THE EFFICIENT 
YOUNG PEOPLE’S 
SOCIETY 


















Class 13 V 4-4-30 

Book » C3 _ 

Copyright N°_ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 





































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































\ 


THE EFFICIENT 
YOUNG PEOPLE’S SOCIETY 




THE 

EFFICIENT YOUNG 
PEOPLE’S SOCIETY 


Sacred Literature Course 


By CARL D. CASE, and Others 


American Baptist Publication Society 

and 

Northern Baptist Convention 

through its 

Commission on Young People’s Work 



• C 3 


Copyright 1915 by 
A. J. ROWLAND, Secretary 

Published June, 1915 



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CONTENTS 


Chapter Page 

I. Standards of Efficiency . i 

II. The Function of the Young Peo¬ 
ple’s Society. 13 

III. The Officers and Committees. 28 

IV. Educational Plans. 41 

V. Missionary Methods . 53 

VI. Social Service. 69 

VII. The Membership . 88 

VIII. Stewardship . 100 

IX. The Heart of the Society. 111 

X. Evangelism. 123 

XI. Preparation for Service. 136 

XII. 'An Adequate Program. 149 















PREFACE 


Machinery is not itself power, but it is the in¬ 
strument through which power becomes efficient. 
This book, “ The Efficient Young People’s Society,” 
does not pretend to furnish power, but it does 
claim to explain conditions under which power is 
effective. 

The subject treated is not altogether new, but the 
topics presented, the arrangement of the subject- 
matter, the style of the language, together with the 
quiz at the close of each chapter, all are planned for 
young people, and especially as gathered into classes. 
At the same time, the book should be used by pas¬ 
tors and other leaders of young people as a hand¬ 
book of methods. 

The authors represent a wide range of activities 
and experience. Chapter I is written by the chair¬ 
man of the Young People’s Commission of the 
Northern Baptist Convention; Chapter II, by the 
editor of “ Service,” a former General Secretary of 
the Baptist Young People’s Union of America; 
Chapter III, by the Junior Secretary of the Baptist 
Young People’s Union of America and author of 
“ Baptist Young People at Work”; Chapter IV, by 
the Director of Religious Education of one of our 


Preface 


largest Baptist churches; Chapter V, by the Secre¬ 
tary of the Missionary Education Movement of our 
denomination; Chapter VI, by the Secretary of the 
Commission on Social Service; Chapter VII, by the 
President of the Baptist Young People’s Union of 
New York State; Chapter VIII, by the Field Secre¬ 
tary of the Baptist Missionary Education Move¬ 
ment; Chapter IX, by the former editor of the 
“ Young People’s Union,” the predecessor of our 
present “ Service ”; Chapter X, by the pastor of the 
oldest Baptist church in America; Chapter XI, by 
the editor of the “ Christian Endeavor World ”; 
and Chapter XII, by the Educational Secretary of 
the American Baptist Publication Society and Gen¬ 
eral Secretary of the Baptist Young People’s Union 
of America. 

This book is sent out by the Young People’s 
Commission with the hope that it may be used in 
all societies of whatever name throughout the terri¬ 
tory of the Northern Baptist Convention. 



THE EFFICIENT 
YOUNG PEOPLE’S SOCIETY 


i 

STANDARDS OF EFFICIENCY 

By Carl D. Case 

The principles of efficiency can be applied to all 
forms of human activity. It is the same individual 
that is now in the store, now in the kitchen, now in 
the office, and now in the young people’s meeting. 
The conditions under which he will best do his 
secular work will also be most favorable for effici¬ 
ency in religious work. In fact, the young Chris¬ 
tian will never divorce his daily work from his re¬ 
ligious life. At all times and in all places, he will 
aim to represent his Lord and Master. Common 
sense, then, should be exalted in church work. That 
we acknowledge the action of the Holy Spirit and 
daily pray for guidance causes us not to discard 
thought and plans and standards, but the more ear¬ 
nestly to apply sane methods to our young people’s 

A I 


2 


The Efficient Young People's Society 


work. God’s spirit always makes for order and 
efficiency. 

The Society Examining Itself 1/ 

To know the forces and conditions, to discover 
the best methods, needs special investigation. As 
the large business establishment secures an efficiency 
engineer, who investigates the local conditions, 
learns the output which the factory wishes to pro¬ 
duce, and then introduces plans by which the results 
are most economically secured, it would be wise 
for every young people’s society either to appoint 
an efficiency commission, or to ask its executive 
committee with such expert aid as it can secure to 
make a scientific examination of the workings of 
the society. 

What is the product we are wishing to secure? 
Whatever it is, it must be clearly distinguished from 
the product of other departments of our church. 
The Bible-school, as we shall learn later, is assu¬ 
ming many of the functions that previously have been 
the exclusive privilege of the young people’s society. 
The relation also to other parts of the church or¬ 
ganization must be determined. There is too much 
overlapping and too little cooperation. The young 
people’s society must be an aid to the church, and 
in so doing, must have its work coordinated with the 
work of every other organization in the church. 

There must also be an examination of the local 
forces and conditions. No two churches are exactly 



Standards of Efficiency 


3 


alike. It is not enough to study the general char¬ 
acteristics of the teen age; that is, action, idealism, 
loyalty, cooperation, and the creative spirit; but the 
young people of the particular church must be con¬ 
sidered, as to their number, their capabilities, the 
time they have available for special service. 
Methods and tasks fitted for one place may not do 
for another. Efficiency means doing the highest 
work possible in the best way. 

Adopting Standards 

What the function of the young people’s society 
is will be considered in the next chapter. Mean¬ 
while, let us know that the object we have in view 
should be clearly understood not only by the officers, 
but by all the members. Whatever the goal of en¬ 
deavor is, it must be worth while. To feel that, 
after all, the work accomplished is trifling and un¬ 
important, is disheartening. Not only must the 
sum total of work accomplished be significant, but 
the part assigned to each member must be im¬ 
portant. The creation of an office to give some 
member a position is not efficiency. 

Efficiency means standards. The Northern Bap¬ 
tist Convention once put out a standard for an ef¬ 
ficient church. In like manner, standards for the 
young people’s society have been adopted. In spite 
of local conditions, general standards are helpful, 
because they state what under average conditions 
a normal young people’s society can accomplish. 



4 


The Efficient Young People's Society 


A standard is a measure of effective service, and 
is a gauge both for attainments and failures. By 
a standard carefully constructed and generally 
adopted, a higher and more workable ideal can be 
presented to the local society than could be done 
by merely visiting other societies or listening to re¬ 
ports from conventions. A standard is not only a 
test for the present condition, but a measure of the 
fact and the rate of increase. 

That standards may be a constant incentive, there 
must be constant reference to them and periodic 
reports made of progress. For example, reliable 
records should be kept and often a chart presented 
to the society of the attendance at the young peo¬ 
ple’s meeting, the increase in number of tithers, the 
increase in the number of new members, visitation 
at the homes, and whatever other forms of service 
the society has adopted. Large establishments learn 
by accurate records, and often by charts, where are 
the weak points of production and where the losses. 
At least a monthly test on the basis of accurate 
records will determine the progress made and its 
rate. 

The plans of a young people’s society need not 
be so many, nor need they be entirely new; but 
they must be definite and well worked. The entire 
reorganization of a society may give a temporary 
enthusiasm, but should not be undertaken unless the 
advantages are manifest and the old system cannot 
be revised. Generally speaking, better improve the 



Standards of Efficiency 


5 


old than change to something new. But, if there is 
waste or loss which cannot be obviated under the 
old plan, then a new plan is better. There is a mo¬ 
mentum in an outworn plan that often continues 
after its usefulness has past. It is hard to disband 
an old organization or cease to use a plan which 
has once been successful. But “ the best practice 
of yesterday is the laughing-stock of to-day.” 
When the machinery moves slowly, when too much 
energy is wasted in friction, when a part of the 
factory stands idle, then it is time to introduce a 
different system. There is nothing sacred in a mere 
plan or even in a name. What we want is results, 
and results are the best antidote to all hostile 
criticism. 

Workers and Their Work 

Nowhere more than in a young people’s society 
should attention be paid to the personnel of the 
workers. Every one must be treated fairly and 
courteously. Even in business there is an increasing 
demand that employees must be recognized as 
human, with human feelings and ambitions. The 
best service can be secured only by recognizing the 
quality of work that is given. One member may 
not be able to do as good work as another on a 
given committee, but the wise society will remem¬ 
ber the future and invest somewhat in training, 
even though the present product is not ideal. The 
society differs from all secular organizations not 



6 


The Efficient Young People's Society 


only because the service is voluntary, but because 
the service of no one is to' be refused. Somewhere 
in the society work must be found for every young 
person who wishes it, not only for his own sake, but 
for the sake of his later service in the kingdom. 

Some service for each means division of labor, 
and division of labor requires supervision, and 
supervision provides for satisfactory use of the time 
and energies of many. The assignment of a person 
to a wrong task or the duplication of work not only 
means inefficiency, but is discouraging to the indi¬ 
vidual worker. Many a person has dropped out of 
the society because he has felt that his contribution 
was almost useless. In general, a person should not 
be partly responsible for a task for which others 
are also partly responsible, unless a joint assign¬ 
ment is necessary. “ Consider yourselves each a 
member of this committee ” means that no one will 
consider himself a member. 

The young people’s society, if it is to exist at all, 
must have a field so extensive as to include all the 
young people of the church and congregation. It 
must be as broad as the Bible-school for ages con¬ 
cerned. Every business company that hires many 
employees keeps a list of those who, in an emergency 
or as demand occurs, may be at once employed. 
They form the “ waiting list ” of the business. 
Not only intensive, but extensive development is 
necessary for the young people’s society. Such list¬ 
ing of new members and new workers requires a 



Standards of Efficiency 


7 


specific knowledge of all the young people of the 
community. 

Training Workers 

But efficiency also requires the discovery and 
training of leaders. Some are more fitted for leader¬ 
ship than others. In a business, the choice of leaders 
generally depends on the judgment of an officer 
or manager still higher up. In a young people’s so¬ 
ciety personal relationship and prejudice are apt to 
have a share in the choice. Whatever method is 
used, the selection of leaders should be safely 
guarded. Generally speaking, the success of a so¬ 
ciety does not depend upon superior plans, but supe¬ 
rior leaders. 

A business establishment rarely trains the men 
that it selects for its offices, although many seek by 
courses of salesmanship and other methods to add 
to their efficiency. But in a young people’s society 
the training must be given by the society. To learn 
to do a thing, just do it, is a common rule; true, 
however, in only a limited way. This is not the 
advice we give to our lawyers and doctors and teach¬ 
ers. To learn to speak in meeting, probably the 
best training is just to keep testifying. But to do 
personal work, to conduct Bible classes, to do social 
service, back of the doing must be expert instruc¬ 
tion. 

What we need, in fact, is a real vocational school 
in the young people’s society. Our public vocational 



8 


The Efficient Young People's Society 


schools do more than train the eye and hand; they 
make carpenters and printers and cooks and seam¬ 
stresses. If the Bible-school needs a teacher-training 
class, the young people’s society needs a vocational 
school. We are subject to the charge of loading 
burdens too great to be borne on the efficient work¬ 
ers of the past while we do not train new ones. If 
the function of the society includes training for 
service in all religious work, then all legitimate 
means should be used for accomplishing the object. 
The necessity for training is what has led the 
Young People’s Department of the American Bap¬ 
tist Publication Society to hold institutes, which, 
while having inspirational addresses, are chiefly filled 
with definite, normal instruction. 

Loyalty to the Society 

A part of all efficiency is loyalty to the institution. 
As we seek to inspire patriotism by the use of the 
flag, the singing of patriotic airs, and public demon¬ 
strations, so every method should be used to inspire 
a feeling of proprietorship when the name of the 
society is mentioned. When salesmen say proudly 
“ we,” their success is sure. Hundreds of business 
concerns, in order to make the “ we ” mean some¬ 
thing, now grant certain privileges of partnership, 
including investment, partial share in management, 
percentage of salary increase depending on the suc¬ 
cess of the business, etc. In a society, the sense 
of mutual responsibility and privilege should be 



Standards of Efficiency 


9 


fostered by common gatherings, society mottoes, 
songs, and even yells, a deeper acquaintanceship, 
and placing of responsibility. When it is “ bad 
form ” to forsake the young people’s society, success 
is attained. Jealousies, cliques, have no place in a 
young people’s society or in the church. 

The production of a sufficient goal of achieve¬ 
ment is the problem of all achievement. The man 
works for wages, but beyond wages is the support 
of self, his family, the good will of the community, 
amusements, education, and the privilege of service. 
In a young people’s society there are no financial 
rewards. Voluntary service must be rendered secure 
by some enthusiasm. To “ speed up ” by prizes and 
rewards secures temporary results, but the only ade¬ 
quate and continuous progress of a society will rest 
upon a broad plan supported by true love. Recog¬ 
nition of service is always legitimate, since often it 
is for the individual the test of his usefulness, but 
the power unseen and personal is the only lasting 
motive. For the production of this motive, the 
young people’s society cannot abandon its prayer 
life and its Bible study. A mere lecture or period 
of discussion or reports from committees cannot 
foster this personal devotion. An efficient young 
people’s society must ever be a praying society. 

Doing Our Best 

The society and the individual alike must do more 
than equal the past. Attainment of an award of 



io The Efficient Young People's Society 


one hundred per cent in examination by some stand¬ 
ard of efficiency that has been set up may satisfy an 
ordinary society. In many respects individual so¬ 
cieties should go beyond the standard. Harrington 
Emerson shows that it is easy to determine the 
efficiency of a process or the use of a material, but 
not the efficiency of an individual. Here there is 
no limit that we can determine. The efficiency of 
to-day may be the inefficiency of to-morrow. To¬ 
morrow should see a better society than to-day, and 
always in the vision of the members there arises 
the ideal society which they should form, an ideal 
society which has added to it new glories both be¬ 
cause of greater knowledge and greater achieve¬ 
ment. The society that does its best sees a larger 
“ best ” ahead of it. 

The young people’s society as well as the indi¬ 
vidual should be “ hungry for correction.” Some¬ 
times the buzz of machinery makes us contented 
while no dividends are being paid on our invest¬ 
ment. The most dangerous place for us is to be 
on the pinnacle of the temple. 

Ruskin declares that in the eighth century Ire¬ 
land possessed a school of art which in many of 
its qualities was quite without a rival, and he com¬ 
pares two early artists of the same period, one from 
Italy and one from Ireland. However, there was 
this fatal difference. In both pieces of art, there 
Was an equal falling short of the needs of fact, but 
the Lombardic artist showed in the irregular broken 



Standards of Efficiency 


ii 


lines a perception of beauty and law that he could 
not render, a strain of effort, a conscious imper¬ 
fection. But the Irish artist had drawn his picture 
with no sense of failure, in happy complacency. 
And so Ruskin declares that the more beautiful the 
art, the more it is essentially the work of people who 
feel themselves wrong, grasping for a loveliness 
which they have not yet attained, and yet who know 
also that they are right, their very sense of error 
marking the perfection of their purpose. Like the 
Lombardic artist, we, in our young people’s society, 
are to be “ hungry for correction.” 

Reference Books 

“ Scientific Management in the Churches,” by 
Shailer Mathews, price, 50 cents; “ Efficiency in 
the Sunday-school,” by Henry F. Cope, price, $1.00; 
“ Baptist Young People at Work,” by Frederick 
G. Detweiler, price, 50 cents; “ The Church a Field 
of Service,” by Charles H. Rust, price, 50 cents; 
“ Expert Endeavor,” by Amos R. Wells, price, 50 
cents; Leaflets on the Baptist Standard for the 
Young People’s Society, price per set, 20 cents; also 
consult books in the public library by Frederick W. 
Taylor, Harrington Emerson, and other experts on 
industrial efficiency. 

Quiz 

1. How widely can principles of efficiency be 
applied ? 



12 The Efficient Young People's Society 


2. How can we discover the inefficient methods 
in our young people’s society ? 

3. Why should only important tasks be given to 
our young people ? 

4. How can a standard for the young people’s 
society be made helpful ? 

5. When should a society be reorganized? 

6. Why should there be careful division of labor 
in a society? 

7. Why should workers in a society be trained? 

8. Why is individual loyalty to the society neces¬ 
sary? 

9. How can we produce a sufficient motive for 
faithfulness? 

10. Give a preliminary description of what you 
consider an efficient young people’s society. 



II 


THE FUNCTION OF THE YOUNG 
PEOPLE’S SOCIETY 

By George T. Webb 

Fifty years ago the young people’s society was 
not so common in the churches of America as it is 
now; but half a century has worked great changes 
in the religious activity of our country. The day 
of ambiguity for the young people’s society in a 
Baptist church is past. As an institution, it is as 
well known as a Sunday-school, or any other form 
of Christian organization, but just what the society 
is supposed to do, or why it is here, is not so com¬ 
monly understood. 

The Baptist Young People’s Union of America, 
when it was organized in 1891, set forth its object in 
the following statement of Christian purpose: 

The unification of Baptist young people; 

Their increased spirituality; 

Their stimulation in Christian service; 

Their education in Scripture knowledge; 

Their instruction in Baptist history and doctrine; 

Their enlistment in missionary activity through 
existing denominational organizations. 


13 


The Efficient Young People’s Society 


In spite of this clear word, many workers have 
formed their own idea about a young people’s so¬ 
ciety, and because of the many opinions confusion 
has resulted. Indeed, the real objective of the 
young people’s society is so often misconceived that 
it seems necessary first to answer the question of' 
this chapter negatively. 

ANSWERED NEGATIVELY 

We will say, therefore, in the first place that 

The Young People’s Society is not a Second Sunday- 
school nor a Substitute Prayer-meeting 

If the young people’s society is an effort to do 
over again the Bible-study work of the Sunday- 
school, or to introduce into the church organization 
a meeting that will be a substitute for the regular 
prayer-meeting of the church, or take the young 
people away from that meeting that should mean so 
much to every Christian life, then the society is a 
thing superfluous, not to say detrimental. 

Every church should seek to have the minimum 
of machinery with the maximum of efficiency, and 
if the Sunday-school is set for Bible-study work, 
and is able to do it, no other organization should be 
brought in to take its place and interfere with a 
well-arranged program of education and service. 

The ideal of the church prayer-meeting is a meet¬ 
ing of the whole church for common prayer. It is 
not simply a matter of praying, but it is the church 



The Function of the Young 'People's Society 15 / 


praying together. The young people who are mem¬ 
bers of the church should not be deprived of all the 
value that there is in such a service. They doubtless 
have needs that cannot be fully met by the church 
prayer-meeting, and this is one reason why there 
should be a young people’s society, but such a so¬ 
ciety should never be regarded as a substitute for 
that meeting in which the church family comes to¬ 
gether for purposes of common worship and prayer. 

It is not a Gathering for Aimless Amusement 

The passion for pleasure is universal in normal 
youth. It is a thing to be directed, not quenched. 
It may be the occasion of securing high good, or 
the means of doing much harm. The constant asso¬ 
ciation together of young people at once suggests 
pleasure, especially so if these are young people 
who are acquainted with each other and in the habit 
of meeting in their church services. There is a 
possibility under such circumstances of yielding to 
the desire and impulse for pleasure and putting out 
of mind the higher and worthier things of life. The 
young people of a church when brought together 
in an organization of their own must guard the pur¬ 
pose of their society well, or the impulse to have a 
good time may mar the good name of the organiza¬ 
tion. This has been the case in many societies. 

It has frequently been asserted that the young 
people’s society is only a courting-school. An un¬ 
fair assertion, we must admit. There may be cases 



16 The Efficient Young People’s Society 


where young people have shown themselves to be 
selfish, but such instances are altogether in the 
minority, and to blame the movement for the failure 
of a few is manifestly unfair. 

Amusement and pleasure should have place in 
every society. There will be plenty of occasions 
for that in outings and social gatherings. Young 
people would not be true to themselves if it was 
otherwise, but the purpose and object of the society 
is not selfish pleasure, but it is to utilize the desire 
for pleasure to worth-while ends. 

It is not a Young People’s Church 

What has been said under the first heading con¬ 
cerning the prayer-meeting is true here also, but 
the subject of the relation of youthful Christians to 
the church is not there exhausted. Discredit has 
sometimes been brought upon the young people’s 
movement because of the failure of young people 
properly to relate their organization to< the church. 
They have felt that if they met appointments of 
the young people’s society, attended its meetings, 
worked on its committees, they were thereby re¬ 
leased from any obligation to the other depart¬ 
ments of the church. Perhaps the fault has not 
been wholly with the society and its members. 
Nevertheless, the responsibility rests upon the mem¬ 
bers of the society to know and insist upon the right 
relations and right understandings of these relations 
as far as they can, in order that their work in the 



The Function of the Young People's Society 17 


society may be the most useful both to the young 
people and to the church. 

The church is unique in the world of religious 
things. There are many organizations that invite 
our attention and request our cooperation; but there 
is not one that is on a par with the church. In 
obedience to the will of the Lord Jesus Christian 
people are baptized into the membership of the 
church. This is not the case with any other or¬ 
ganization. Other organizations exist to facilitate 
Christian work in and by the church, and invite 
the cooperation of Christian people, but not one of 
them can presume to stand alongside of the church 
in dignity and value and glory. These organiza¬ 
tions appeal to certain classes of persons, such as 
the young people in the young people’s society, 
the women in the women’s missionary society, the 
children in the mission band, etc.; but not one of 
these, nor all of them together, can be considered 
as the equal of the church. Young people may 
find peculiar help and satisfaction in their own 
organization, but it must never be allowed to inter¬ 
fere with their prior and supreme obligation to a 
service through the church itself, nor can any of 
these lesser organizations do for the people what 
the church can and will do if we give it the right 
place in our affectionate thought. 

The young people’s society is to be regarded as 
the expression of the church’s influence in young 
people and the church’s effort to work for young 

B 



18 The Efficient Young People's Society 


people. It is a part of the church, and not a thing 
apart from the church. 

ANSWERED POSITIVELY 

Having tried to clear the ground of some of the 
misconceptions that interfere with the proper func¬ 
tions of the young people’s society, we must now 
turn to seek positive answer to the question before 
us. In doing so, we would say the proper functions 
of the young people’s society are: 

i. To Cultivate the Spiritual Life of Young People 

The entrance into the Christian life is parallel to 
the physical life of a young child. The child is alive, 
full of vigor, a bundle of possibilities. The little 
infant swings his hands and feet without much plan 
or purpose, but the abounding life in the little fel¬ 
low compels him to this exercise, and though he 
does not know what it is doing for him, he is never¬ 
theless gaining strength for other things that he will 
do by and by. 

That mother is wise who recognizes in all of this 
activity the unconscious desire to grow, and sur¬ 
rounds her child with facilities to allow this exercise 
that will result in the needed development. To put 
the little fellow where he cannot kick is to put 
limitations upon him that will do him harm in after¬ 
life. 

The church is the home for young Christians, 
the place where spiritual life should receive the 



The Function of the Young People's Society 19 


nurture and care that it requires in order to its de¬ 
velopment in vigor and power. 

That the young Christian may be properly con¬ 
ditioned for this growth, the church provides the 
young people’s society as the place where certain 
activities will be prescribed and certain exercises al¬ 
lowed that will draw out and develop the spiritual 
life that is beginning to show itself in the souls of 
these people. 

The Sunday-school is an opportunity for Bible 
study, and the young people’s society will not inter¬ 
fere with that, but there is a difference between 
Bible study and Bible reading—the difference be¬ 
tween seeking to furnish the mind for work and 
fitting the body for service. It is the business of the 
young people’s society to lead young people to an 
acquaintance with the Bible, primarily for the pur¬ 
pose of personal growth in the spiritual life, and to 
lead them out in private and public prayer, and to 
direct the activities and work of the young people 
that they may grow thereby. Every young Chris¬ 
tian needs just that thing, and the young people’s 
society is preeminently qualified to do that work for 
young Christians. 

2. To Discover the Individual Talents and Powers of 
Young People 

Young people of fifteen or sixteen years of age 
do not know themselves, and still more, their friends 
do not know them. They are like treasure-boxes 



20 The Efficient Young People's Society 


just beginning to open, and the things of value are 
only beginning to reveal themselves. 

In each person there are talents and powers of 
which there have been only slight glimpses up to the 
present time. Close observation and freedom of 
activity will bring to light the powers that have been 
before only partially revealed. Between the ages of 
fifteen and twenty the young man ought to come 
to know himself, and to discover the line of service 
in which he will be most useful. Others who are 
permitted to* watch him will make similar discov¬ 
eries, and it is to afford this opportunity for the 
work of discovery that the young people’s society 
exists. 

If young people are allowed unfettered activity 
their real powers will soon be seen. Sometimes un¬ 
expected talents come to view when the young man 
or the young woman is acting without the constraint 
of the eyes of more mature wisdom upon them, and 
a young man may discover that he has a real talent 
for speech or a young lady may find out that she 
is gifted in song, or business qualities may appear 
that were quite unexpected, and it is the business of 
the young people’s society to help young people to 
know what powers they possess. 

3. To Train Young People so as to Perfect Their 
Powers for Service 

The young people have discovered themselves pos¬ 
sessed of certain talents and powers. They have 



The Function of the Young People's Society 21 


ability in certain directions. The work of the so¬ 
ciety has made them conscious of these gifts. It 
now becomes the duty of the society to train 
these young people that their powers and talents 
may be perfected. Every man owes it to his God, 
to himself, and to the world to make the most pos¬ 
sible of himself. It is not enough that he can do 
some things well; he should not be satisfied until 
he can do them in the best way. This is particularly 
true in respect to Christian life and service, and the 
high ideal of efficiency should be lifted up before 
young people to develop their powers to their ut¬ 
most capacity. They are to be workmen fit for 
association with the Master Workman. 

The young people’s society, through its meetings, 
its committee work, its local, associational, State, 
and international organizations, affords such a 
variety of service that young people can find in the 
society’s work the exact experience that is neces¬ 
sary in order to their growth and strengthening 
in life and character and service. 

No society should attempt to duplicate within it¬ 
self the organization of another society. It should, 
through a knowledge of its own members, seek to 
carry on the work that these persons can do, and 
supply the opportunity for such activity as they 
need. Their future work will be in the church to 
which they belong, and the young people’s society 
becomes the training-school for the church that its 
future members, as they serve as clerk, or treasurer, 



22 The Efficient Young People's Society 

or deacon, or in some form of social work, may be 
masters at their tasks. 

4. To Lead Young People to Self-expression in Life 
and Service 

In Christian work much mischief is done by peo¬ 
ple attempting to be like others and do as others do. 
No person can be so strong in an unnatural way as 
he can when he is quite himself. If the activity of 
the young people is always in the presence of those 
who are older and more experienced, there will be 
an unconscious tendency to do things just as the 
older people do them, and to say things in the same 
words and in the same way as their seniors do. 
This will result in artificiality, and will produce 
weakness and inefficiency; but if young people are 
allowed to be by themselves, and are left to their 
own resources, they will do things in their own 
sweet way. Sometimes the way may not be as good 
as their elders would desire, but this is the only 
way by which each individual can learn for him¬ 
self the way in which he can best do the work that 
belongs to him. 

Self-expression will mean the growth of the real 
self, and is a result of this natural development. 
There will come into the church through the young 
people’s society those who have enjoyed the growth 
of real personality. They will have learned to be 
themselves and at the same time will have learned 
to work with others in a common cause. 



The Function of the Young People's Society 23 ^ 


5. To Interpret to Young People the Mission of the 
Church 

As West Point is to the American army, so the 
young people’s society should be to the Christian 
church. Young people are enlisted in a cause that 
they do not fully understand. They know enough 
about it to have a strong desire to be in it, but the 
full meaning of it has not yet impressed them. 
Young people will learn that the church is not an 
end in itself. It is an instrument for bringing the 
kingdom of God into the world. They will learn 
that one of the first things set for the church to do 
is to bring men and women into harmony with God’s 
will. We call this conversion. They will learn that 
the church’s business is not merely to propound 
theories and announce doctrines, but to instruct men 
concerning the will of God, and inspire them to do 
it. This will mean a passion to bring men to Christ, 
and then to make men like Christ. This will in¬ 
clude the work in the church on Sunday, and all the 
activities of men every day of the week. It will 
show men their relation to God in Christ, and will 
teach them their relation to men for Christ. It will 
include business righteousness and social conduct, 
and everything that has to do with the life of a man 
in all the many spheres in which he moves. 

If the mission of the church is to include every¬ 
thing in a man’s life, it must also include every man 
in this life. If it is to be strong in its intensity, it 
must be broad in its scope, and the young Christian 




24 The Efficient Young People’s Society 




will learn that the mission of the church is to give 
to the whole world the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. 
To make young people see and appreciate this broad 
mission of the church of Christ and to enlist men 
in this task is a part of the business of the young 
people’s society. 

6 . To Influence Young People in Forming Their Per¬ 
sonal and Social Relationships for Life 

Companions mean much to any man. They mean 
more to young people, for young people are more 
susceptible to 1 the influence of their associates. The 
friendships of youth are likely to be more enduring, 
and the period of life that is likely to be influenced 
by companionships is in all probability long in exact 
ratio to the youth of the person influenced. 

The young people’s society has as one of its re¬ 
sponsibilities the work of introducing young people 
to each other that they may have the right kind of 
associates, and may themselves exert over others 
the influence that would be good for them. The 
cases are numerous where friendships have been 
formed in the young people’s society that have con¬ 
tinued through years of after-life. Young men who 
have been thrown together as lads in the young peo¬ 
ple’s society have grown up to be associates in the 
work of Christ in the general activities of the de¬ 
nomination. Great care should be exercised at this 
point, for a man can be made or marred by these 
companionships. 



The Function of the Young People's Society 25 

It has been said that the young people’s society 
is a courting-school for young people. Let us 
frankly face the fact that young people are probably 
going to fall in love some time somewhere. They 
are going to marry, and form that intimate relation¬ 
ship that will last “as long as they both shall live.” 
In our Christian work we are desirous that men 
and women should marry well and wisely, but we 
have not done much to bring this about. With all 
frankness, the young people’s society is the church’s 
opportunity to influence young men and women in 
forming these attachments that friendship may grow 
to love, and the atmosphere of Christian service 
is not a bad place for people to fall in love with 
each other. 

Social gatherings of young people under the wise 
supervision of the church afford the opportunity 
for young people to come together, to know each 
other, and in the atmosphere of Christian life form 
these friendships that abide. 

7. To Develop an Intelligent and Active Interest in 
Denominational Enterprises 

The young people’s society has in view some¬ 
thing more than the activities of the local church. 
The young people who belong to the church, and are 
therefore connected with the young people’s society, 
belong to the denomination, and they must be taught 
that their responsibilities include the various enter¬ 
prises with which the denomination is connected. 



2(J The Efficient Young People's Society 


It is a healthful thing for young people to be 
brought to see that all the things that the denomina¬ 
tion is doing are things in which they personally 
have a part. For this reason the young people’s 
society will see to it that the young people are made 
acquainted with the organization of the denomina¬ 
tion into associational, State, and territorial con¬ 
ventions, and with the functions and reasons for the 
existence of these associations and conventions. It 
will see to it that the societies of the denomination 
for the prosecution of work at home and abroad are 
fully explained to the young people, so that they 
may know what these societies and boards have 
been organized to do, and how they are succeeding 
in the work that belongs to them. 

It is not enough that in connection with the mis¬ 
sionary meeting, the work of the Foreign Mission 
Society, the Home Mission Society, or the Publica¬ 
tion Society should be presented, but the organiza¬ 
tion of these societies ought to be explained, the 
names of the officers and the location of the head¬ 
quarters of the societies should be clearly laid before 
the young people. There will, of course, be oppor¬ 
tunity afforded in connection with the church’s plan 
of giving for the young people to have part in the 
work of all of these societies, and by the information 
given and the cooperation encouraged, the young 
people will be brought to feel that the work of the 
denomination through its conventions and through 
its societies is a work in which they have a part, a 



The Function of the Young People's Society 27 


work for which they are responsible in the same 
sense that they are responsible for the work of the 
local church. 

Quiz 

1. Give the authorized statement of the object of 
the young people’s society. 

2. What is the difference between the Sunday- 
school and the young people’s society ? 

3. What should be the attitude of young people to 
the church prayer-meeting? 

4. What is the position of the church as com¬ 
pared with societies in the church? 

5. What opportunities does the young people’s 
society afford for the spiritual development of its 
members ? 

6. What work of discovery can the society do? 

7. What work of training can the society do? 

8. Name some of the advantages of young people 
meeting by themselves. 

9. What advantage (socially) can the young peo¬ 
ple’s society be to the young people ? 

10. What should be the service of the young peo¬ 
ple’s society to the denomination at large? 



Ill 


THE OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES 

By F. G. Detweiler 

Among young people’s societies that I have 
known, there has never been a failure where the 
officers and the chairmen of committees were up 
and doing. Sometimes societies go 1 through a period 
of depression, and nine times out of ten it is because 
those who should be leading are lagging. In some 
cases there is a lack of personal consecration, but 
oftener the need seems to be a plain, honest appli¬ 
cation to the task. Doth not efficiency cry, and 
understanding put forth her voice ? In dealing with 
this subject, let us begin with the statement of the 
following 

General Principles of Efficiency 

i. Fit the right person to the right place. In a 
large factory this is one of the first concerns of the 
efficiency engineer. In the young people’s society 
election should be by ballot after nominations have 
been carefully made. A nominating committee is a 
good thing, but it should include the pastor, and 
should do its work a week before the election. 
John Doe may be a strong-willed young man who 
28 


The Officers and Committees 


29 


loveth to have the preeminence. That is no reason 
for electing him. Richard Roe may be so weak of 
will that he does not know how to decline an office 
that he cannot fill and that no one else will accept. 
The desire to avoid hurting some one’s feelings will 
lead to misfits in office. Efficiency is the test. Of 
course this is not saying that the older members 
should continually hold the offices. A younger per¬ 
son may make some mistakes in the beginning, but 
eventually the society will be stronger for its con¬ 
sistent endeavor to inject young blood into the direc¬ 
tion of its work. All terms of office should be of 
at least a year. 

2. Know exactly what you are supposed to do. 
No railway engineer will reach for the throttle until 
he has received his orders. Starting a powerful 
machine out into the night with no knowledge of the 
way ahead is not more foolish than the attempt to 
lead Christian youth without knowing where to 
go. The constitution of your society should state 
the duties of your position; read and ponder. If 
this source is not clear enough, ask some one higher 
up. Keep on until you have an adequate answer. 
No one else can tell you the details of all your work. 
You will have plenty of call for the wisdom which 
is from above and you must interpret your duties 
as an officer in the light of the actual needs of the 
young people about you. If you do not first find 
out exactly what you are going to do, you will 
probably not do much of anything. 



30 The Efficient Young People*s Society 


3. Plan how to do it. One of the greatest uni¬ 
versity presidents of modern times was in the habit 
of jotting down in a special place in his note-book 
things that suggested themselves from time to time 
as needed in his work. Perhaps you can do some¬ 
thing like this, in order to set before your thought 
the objects of your endeavor. Now outline these 
needs carefully, placing first on the list those that 
are the most practicable. Then ask, How shall I be¬ 
gin to do this thing that is first ? Whom shall I ask 
to help at this and that point throughout the proc¬ 
ess ? When must I have this particular job finished ? 

4. Get the others to help. If you accomplish 
a certain result by your own unaided efforts, that re¬ 
sult is not worth one-half so much to the society 
as it might have been if you had enlisted the sup¬ 
port of others. Perhaps this is the hardest prin¬ 
ciple of all to observe. It takes infinite patience 
and resourcefulness, or, one should rather say, it 
develops infinite patience and resourcefulness, if one 
is willing to try and keep trying. Every young per¬ 
son who joins your society is told that thereby he 
is to undergo training for Christian service. The 
society should keep its promise, and give every indi¬ 
vidual a chance to work. Overworked nerves and 
a pale, flabby body: that is the society in which the 
officers do the work and the general body is content 
to let them do it. 

5. Ascertain how much really gets done. Officers 
and chairmen must prepare bona-fide reports, and 



The Officers and Committees 


3 i 


present them at regular intervals. When any mem¬ 
ber of the society is given special tasks of any sort, 
he should be led to expect that some one will come 
a little later to find out if the assignment has been 
performed. This is not so hard as it may seem. 
A society can be educated to the habit. In the same 
connection, one is reminded of the value of a stand¬ 
ard of excellence or efficiency for the whole organ¬ 
ization. When this is posted on the wall and 
notations made from time to time the whole mem¬ 
bership has before it its record of weekly growth. 

The Efficient President 

1. The efficient president will have a spiritual 
life of his own. He will be impressed with the glori¬ 
ous responsibility of being an assistant of the Great 
Shepherd of souls. It will not do for him simply to 
repeat in meeting the stereotyped phrases he has 
heard from his elders. He should have an experi¬ 
ence of his own. It will not do for him to impose 
his own will upon a committee, but rather to gain 
discernment of the Lord’s gracious will. This can 
come to him only in prayer and can be imparted to 
others only in the clear atmosphere of Christian 
love. The president must have an inner life that is 
fed at original sources—God’s Bible, prayer, and 
reverent personal faith. 

2. The efficient president will convene the execu¬ 
tive committee and make it his cabinet. This cabinet 
will include the pastor, the officers, and the com- 



2,2 The Efficient Young People's Society 


mittee chairmen, and is in effect a conference of the 
heads of departments. Monthly meetings are best, 
and attendance should be considered a badge of 
loyalty. In presiding at such a meeting, one must 
be on time. After prayer and a statement of the 
purpose of the meeting, the members of the cabinet 
should be called on one by one for a report of the 
preceding month, a statement of plans for the 
future, and mention of any problems that arise. It 
may be best for these reports to be written. Each 
report calls for discussion on the part of the whole 
body. The president must not talk too much, but 
rather get the others to express themselves freely. 
When he knows he is right, he should not give way 
too easily, but often he should yield gracefully to the 
general consensus of the meeting. The first execu¬ 
tive committee meeting in the president’s year should 
settle definitely in the mind of each department- 
head the course he is to inaugurate, and also decide 
a unified policy for the society. 

3. The president will handle the business of the 
society with care and despatch. Secular affairs 
should be kept out of the weekly devotional gather¬ 
ing as much as possible. When the time for a regu¬ 
lar business meeting arrives, the president should 
open promptly and adopt the following order: De¬ 
votions, Minutes, Treasurer’s Report, Reports (in 
writing) of Standing Committees, Reports of Special 
Committees, Unfinished Business, New Business, Ad¬ 
journment. A brief social time may fittingly follow 



The Officers and Committees 


33 


the business procedure. This whole meeting must 
be thoroughly planned beforehand. Remind your 
chairmen that reports will be expected. If you have 
any new plans to be adopted, have some one ready 
to propose and discuss them. If there is no im¬ 
portant business, hasten along, and make time for 
a special speaker or program. Above all, learn to 
check useless discussion of trifles and to husband 
your time. A copy of “ Robert’s Rules of Order ” 
should be within call. A little book by Amos R. 
Wells, “ The Officers’ Handbook,” is very helpful. 

4. The president attends the weekly meeting of 
the society, and sheds helpfulness all around. He 
is to the leader like the man who rows a boat along¬ 
side a swimmer, ready to take him on board if he 
seems about to go under. This should give the 
leader confidence. The president should not be 
prominent at this time, and yet if the service seems 
to need more life he will be ready with a brief word 
of prayer, testimony, song, or suggestion. In ad¬ 
dressing the society, he must never scold. When 
the meeting is over, tell the leader how good it was. 
It goes without saying that any meeting in which 
the president is the leader should be to him the 
opportunity of giving an example of good leading— 
of course the liveliest, brightest, strongest meeting 
of all. 

5. The efficient president will keep the society in 
accord with the larger work of the church. To do 
this he will be in close touch with the pastor’s ideas. 

c 



34 The Efficient Young People's Society 


The church should make the president a member 
of its general board. He should work side by side 
with the Sunday-school superintendent, seeking to 
enlist all the pupils of suitable age in the society, 
and to see that the society renders effective aid to 
the school. He ought to subscribe to denomina¬ 
tional papers and attend conventions. He may do a 
great service to his society by bringing members into 
these conventions, where they get the breath of a 
broader enthusiasm. He is the tugboat that the ship 
needs to pull her out from her narrow dock of self 
into the wide, wide sea of larger relations and 
achievements. 

6 . The tugboat must not pull the ship all the 
way by its own sheer energy. The ship must soon 
be running of its own accord. And yet no machine 
can be left to run by itself. Some one must be 
in charge of it to see that proper adjustments are 
made, proper material fed into it, proper connec¬ 
tions made with the source of power, and a suit¬ 
able product turned out. In countless ways the 
president will be needed for a suggestion here, a 
little encouragement there—in short, he must be 
constantly “ on the job.” Here is the test of tact. 
Here is the patience and faith of the saints. Do 
your committeemen fail to do the task assigned? 
Remind the^i of it gently, firmly. Never criticize; 
always suggest; and always smile. Never mind re¬ 
counting the wrong things that have been done; 
describe rather the good that is still possible. Keep 



The Officers and Committees 


35 


every member busy, all members happy, and your¬ 
self in loving submission to the Lord Christ. 

The Vice-president 

The primary duty of the vice-president is to pre¬ 
side at the transaction of any business in case of the 
president’s absence. In the event of the president’s 
illness for a week or more the vice-president should 
relieve him of the detail work connected with the 
plans and committees, and keep things going. As a 
general thing, the vice-president should have the 
position of president’s special aid. Some societies 
make him chairman of one of the important com¬ 
mittees. Often he may preside when the president 
is on hand, especially if the latter wishes to leave 
the chair temporarily in order to speak to a motion. 
Some day the vice-president may lose that first 
syllable; at any rate, let .him prepare for the best. 

The Recording Secretary 

The efficient recording secretary will be accurate, 
comprehensive, brief, neat, and up-to-date with all 
records. First, have a good book. If you use the 
typewriter, try a loose-leaf record-bpok. Secondly, 
see that this book contains the constitution, by-laws, 
and pledge with the signatures of the members of 
the society affixed at the time of joining. In the 
back of book have an alphabetical list of members 
with correct street addresses and telephone num¬ 
bers. Separate columns must be used for active, 



36 The Efficient Young People s Society 


honorary, and associate members. Thirdly, insert 
the record of all business transacted. The secretary 
must listen closely at all business sessions and take 
down the exact words of the motions made. This 
memorandum should be gone over carefully, and 
then copied in the book. The minutes should al¬ 
ways be dated and signed, and are subject to the 
approval of the society at a later meeting or at the 
close of this one. Important reports should be in¬ 
corporated in the minutes, other reports given in 
summary. Lost motions should not be recorded. 
Fourthly, this secretary must notify all officers and 
members of committees of their election or appoint¬ 
ment. Finally, the secretary may be required on cer¬ 
tain occasions to call the roll. This should be done 
in a clear, distinct voice. It is better if the names 
of absent members be passed over in silence. For a 
consecration meeting try placing upon the wall near 
the door a series of cards, each with a member’s 
name and the request to repeat a certain Bible verse, 
read a stanza of a hymn, lead in prayer, answer 
a question, or take some other part in the meeting. 
The members are to take these down on entering, 
and at the close the cards that are left represent 
the absentees. 

The Corresponding Secretary 

The corresponding secretary is to attend to all 
correspondence sent out or received by the society. 
As soon as he takes office he should write to the 



The Officers and Committees 


37 


associational, county, State, and national offices of 
the organization to which the society belongs, offer¬ 
ing to send in any names and statistics requested, 
thus effecting contact at once with the abundant 
help available from these larger units. All letters 
from outside sources should be answered promptly. 
If a member leaves town, this secretary should at 
once write to the young people’s society of the same 
denomination in the town to which he goes, bespeak¬ 
ing a welcome for the new arrival and acquainting 
the new society with his standing. In case addresses 
of distant secretaries are not to be had, such a letter 
could be directed to the young people’s society in 
care of the pastor. 

The Treasurer 

First, there is the keeping of accounts. It may 
be necessary to learn a little bookkeeping. When 
there are pledges from individuals to be taken care 
of, a good plan is to write the names down along the 
left-hand side of a left-hand page and, using both 
pages, rule twelve vertical columns, thus giving 
each one a separate square for each month’s pay¬ 
ment. There will probably be different funds which 
must be kept separate; e. g., the current expense 
and the missions fund. Then there will be the ordi¬ 
nary cash account, where all receipts and expendi¬ 
tures will be set down in detail as they occur. 

The questions of raising money and their adequate 
disbursement are fully treated in Chapter VIII. 



38 The Efficient Young People’s Society 


The Chairmen of Committees 

Under this head we shall not discuss the work of 
each committee in detail. The constitution of each 
society should state clearly the duties of its com¬ 
mittees, and this volume is to treat of the various 
departments of the work of committees in later 
chapters. The following committees are generally 
employed: (1) Lookout, or membership, (2) prayer¬ 
meeting, or devotional, (3) educational, (4) mission- 
ary, (5) social, (6) financial, (7) music, (8) flower, 
(9) temperance, (10) literature (tracts and publica¬ 
tions), (11) Sunday-school, (12) benevolence, or 
relief, (13) social service, (14) good citizenship, 
(15) evangelism, (16) executive (composed of of¬ 
ficers and chairmen of all committees). 

The efficiency of committees rests upon the fol¬ 
lowing essentials: 

1. Before a chairman is finally appointed ascer¬ 
tain whether he will accept the position or not. If 
the unwillingness should be very decided, it is best 
to seek another chairman. You cannot crank up 
and get started if there is no engine in the car. You 
cannot work a committee without its chairman. 

2. The president should hold the chairman indi¬ 
vidually responsible for results. The chairman, in 
turn, should hold his members responsible. The 
chairman should notify each member of the com¬ 
mittee of his appointment, notwithstanding such 
notification may have already been given by the 
recording secretary. 



The Officers and Committees 


39 


3. The chairman should map out his work 
roughly, of course, but yet as clearly as possible. 
He must insist on knowing what he is supposed 
to do. He should be called by the president into a 
meeting of the executive committee, and have this 
prospectus retouched by the general discussion. 
Immediately thereafter, he shall call a meeting of his 
own committee, trying to set a time when they will 
all be on hand. At this first meeting the committee 
should discuss and accept finally its policy for the 
year, and, at the chairman’s suggestion, divide the 
work up into separate tasks for each member. 

4. There should now be a regular time set for 
monthly committee meetings. These occasions may 
be tempered with social features. A little ice 
cream now and then is relished by the best of men. 
But more important still is the prayer that should 
be offered in every meeting. 

5. The chairman should inform his helpers that 
they may look for him to ask them occasionally 
how they are progressing with their tasks. He 
must “ keep tab ” and not lose tact. If the work is 
not being done, he may offer his personal help to 
individual members. He should not assign tasks 
that are too difficult. If the committee is large, he 
may divide it into sections and have good-natured 
rivalry. Meanwhile, he will be doing as much hard 
work as any of hfs helpers, perhaps more. 

6. The chairman should report from time to time 
to the executive committee in writing. 



40 The Efficient Young People's Society 


7. He should be supplied with literature on his 
work. Such literature is now easily obtainable from 
denominational publishing houses, the United So¬ 
ciety of Christian Endeavor, and State or district 
workers everywhere. 

8. Names of members of committees should be 
printed, and occasionally a committee should be 
praised for good work. 

Quiz 

1. Give the first principle of efficiency as applied 
to the officers of a young people’s society. 

2. Name in brief sentences the other four prin¬ 
ciples. 

3. What should be the president’s first c®ncern? 

4. What are the duties of the president? 

5. Describe a model executive committee meeting. 

6. Give the order of business in a business meet¬ 
ing. 

7. What are the duties of the vice-president ? 

8. Distinguish between the recording and corre¬ 
sponding secretaries. 

9. What are the treasurer’s duties ? 

10. What is the most important principle of ef¬ 
ficient work by a committee, allowing, of course, a 
possible difference of opinion? 



IV 


EDUCATIONAL PLANS 

By Clarence H. Frank 

The need for education in a young people’s society 
is obvious. The Sunday-school is constantly bring¬ 
ing children and young people into the church. It is 
limited in time to about one hour a week and in sub¬ 
ject-matter to the Bible. This educational work is 
supplemented by two hours of church worship. 
The nature of this service prevents the giving of 
little more than a point of view and an attitude. Re¬ 
ligious development demands a growing intelligence 
regarding a variety of subjects that cannot be treated 
in the Sunday-school as organized at present, and 
may not be treated sufficiently, or in a thorough 
manner through the sermon. If the church-members 
of the next generation are to be efficient in the work 
of the kingdom and true to their inheritance, edu¬ 
cational methods are imperative in this day. 

Religion must be operative on week-days as well 
as Sunday, and must be more than acceptance of 
a creed or loyalty to an organization. These are 
essential, and must have a proper place in any plan 
for religious education. It is dangerous for a child 
to learn to walk. He will often fall and exhibit 

4 1 


42 The Efficient Young People's Society 


many bumps and bruises. Educational methods 
have their dangers. They must not be merely 
academic and develop powers of criticism. They 
must lead to positive service and the Christianiza- 
tion of every phase and expression of life. 

Modern theories and systems of education are de 
veloping. The method of yesterday may be super¬ 
seded by the better one of to-day. If study and 
experience are worth anything they will cause fre¬ 
quent revision of our plans without in any way 
discrediting those formerly used. A man does not 
discredit his boyhood by discarding boyish thoughts 
and actions and accepting manhood’s standards of 
life. Such a process is one of evolution never of 
revolution. Let our educational methods come in 
this way, but be sure they come. 

A Committee on Education 

If proper educational development is to be real- 
ized, there must be adequate supervision. The 
young people’s society should have a committee on 
education. This committee should be composed of 
persons who are interested in education and have 
the religious motive and quality of life. High-school 
and public-school teachers frequently are glad to 
serve in such capacity. The committee need not be 
large, but should have the confidence and respect of 
the young people and the church. 

Many churches are now establishing boards of 
education to plan and supervise religious education 



Educational Plans 


43 


in the church. The pastor, or director of religious 
education, works in closest harmony with this board. 
The young people’s committee should always coop¬ 
erate. Consultation and advice should be sought. 
Plans advanced should always harmonize with the 
larger plans of the church. Duplication and rivalry 
in this work should be avoided. The pastor should 
be an ex-officio member, and his presence and ad¬ 
vice are to be sought when plans are being formu¬ 
lated. 

Plans will not work unless they are worked. A 
mere announcement of courses of study will be dis¬ 
appointing and discredit the whole scheme. This is 
a busy age. People’s lives are full. Young people 
have more demands than they can easily meet. 
When courses of study are arranged and leaders 
secured much personal work will have to be done in 
order to secure proper attendance and enthusiasm. 
It is unfair to ask a leader to take the whole respon¬ 
sibility for a class. The educational committee and 
officers must believe in the work and express their 
conviction in a contagious way. 

Methods 

A number of methods are in use to-day. The fol¬ 
lowing have worked well: 

i. Combination Meeting. The hour or more 
given to the young people’s meeting is divided into 
two parts. Usually the first half is given to study. 
Sometimes the society is divided into two or 



44 The Efficient Young People's Society 


more classes. Text-books and strictly educational 
methods are used. The second period of time is for 
the devotional meeting. Occasionally one of the 
classes may lead and bring to all some of the bene¬ 
fits of their study. 

2. Two-evening Plan. Some societies hold their 
prayer-meeting before church Sunday evening and 
hold their educational classes on a week-night in 
cooperation with the Sunday-school, teacher-train¬ 
ing, or other organized classes, or with the brother¬ 
hood, women’s society, or club. A low-priced sup¬ 
per frequently makes this convenient. 

One society in a large student community has 
an excellent plan. The combination meeting, with 
three or four classes, is held from 8 to 9.30 on a 
week-night. Persons are asked to serve as host and 
hostess on Sunday evening at 5.30; tea is served, 
and a social hour is spent. The time from 6.30 to 
7.30 is given to a discussion class on the life of 
Christ or Christian teaching on personal and social 
problems. This service need not be rigid, and may 
be devotional as occasion demands. The presence 
of host and hostess and some active workers gives 
opportunity to invite a number of those present to 
the evening church worship. Such a plan, with 
some changes, could be used in an industrial com¬ 
munity or great city with many young people in 
rooming-houses. Sunday afternoon in a rooming- 
house is lonely, and temptations to go wrong are 
hard to withstand when one’s heart is hungry. This 



Educational Plans 


45 


service in a social way can be made invaluable to 
those served and to those who serve. 

3. Union of Neighboring Churches. Societies 
in neighboring churches sometimes unite on an 
educational program. In Columbus, Ohio, this plan 
has worked well under the direction of Rev. L. M. 
Darnell and Rev. A. M. Dixon. 

If for any good reason teachers are difficult to 
secure, this plan will make possible an enlarged 
educational service by the ministers. 

Teachers 

When educational classes are planned, the great 
problem is that of teachers. A good teacher will 
make a poor course valuable, but a poor teacher will 
vitiate a splendid course. 

The pastor is the first one to be considered for 
this important place. But his great difficulty will be 
that he is already crowded to the very limit. Young 
people might relieve him of some detail work and 
permit him to do this work for which he has longed. 

Then there are the high-school and public-school 
teachers. They are trained for this form of service. 
Draft them. 

There are also bright, cultivated men and women 
in almost every community to whom this service 
will appeal. Make plans worth while, and the 
strongest leaders will cooperate. Always remem¬ 
ber that the best is none too good for your society, 
and be content with nothing less. Be sure the 



46 The Efficient Young People's Society 


teachers selected are approved by the pastor and 
educational board of the church. 

The teachers should be supplied with equipment. 
Blackboards are always necessary. Maps of the 
home and foreign mission fields should be provided 
for mission-study classes. These may be secured 
from the Department of Missionary Education, 
23 East Twenty-sixth Street, New York City. 
Teacher-training classes should be provided with 
adequate maps of Palestine and a good historical 
geography. “ Biblical Geography and History,” by 
Kent, and “ The Historical Geography of the Holy 
Land,” by Smith, are splendid. A few good books 
for reference and collateral reading should be fur¬ 
nished. All the equipment needed may not be 
supplied at once. Even where funds are avail¬ 
able, it would be a mistake to buy a big library. 
Let equipment grow with the work and as needs 
develop. Some models, maps, charts, etc., may be 
home-made. Where some one of ability is found, 
use him. Save expense and gain in loyalty and en¬ 
thusiasm. 

Courses of Study 

“ Of making many books there is no end.” Pub¬ 
lishing houses are bringing out many new text¬ 
books for use in religious education. They vary 
greatly in value and adaptability. Selections should 
be made upon the basis of harmony and usefulness 
in a comprehensive and continuous plan for the 



Educational Plans 


47 


society. Many catchy books will appeal that may 
prove distracting to a well-ordered educational plan. 
A society should not be afraid to outline its educa¬ 
tional work for a period of years. The curriculum 
should be flexible enough to meet increasing needs 
and results of growing experience. At least four 
general subjects should be treated: Baptist History 
and Principles, Missions, Forms and Methods of 
Christian Service, and Teacher-training. 

The Christian Culture Courses of the Baptist 
Young People’s Union of America were among the 
first educational courses offered to young people. 
They are still maintained at a high standard under 
the supervision of the American Baptist Publication 
Society and the Young People’s Commission. 

Bible study should be well provided for in or¬ 
ganized classes of the Sunday-school, and have 
the active support of the society. But much can be 
done in an organized effort to promote Bible read¬ 
ing and study by those who cannot be in Sunday- 
school, and even a more systematic reading by those 
who are. The Bible Readers’ Course splendidly 
meets this opportunity. The society might well 
cooperate with the Sunday-school in conducting a 
Bible-study class at some time in the week for the 
advantage of those who cannot attend the school. 

Missions should hold a large place in the educa¬ 
tional program. A special chapter is written on this 
important subject and further treatment omitted 
here. 



48 The Efficient Young People’s Society 


It is not difficult for the modern call for church 
union to become a mere sentiment, and defeat ef¬ 
ficient service. We are in a time that demands 
church cooperation and federation. But weak units 
cannot be successfully federated. We must per¬ 
form our most effective service as faithful and loyal 
Baptists. Loyalty must be founded on no narrow 
sectarian or metaphysical basis, but upon the con¬ 
sciousness of a God-given mission in the world. 
The kingdom of God is larger than the Baptists, 
but Baptist young people are most efficient in king¬ 
dom service who are loyal to their denomination 
and sympathetic in their attitude toward all other 
Christian bodies. 

It is well to offer some course every year that 
makes for denominational intelligence and loyalty. 
The following text-books are recommended: “ A 
Short History of the Baptists,” Vedder; Church 
History Handbooks, “Baptist History,” Vedder; 
“A Restatement of Baptist Principles,” Jones; 
“ Doctrines of Our Faith,” Dargan. 

For advanced study the following books are avail¬ 
able : “ The Axioms of Religion,” Mullins; “ The 
Commonwealths and the Kingdom,” Padelford ; 
“ A Baptist Manual,” Soares; the Annual of the 
Northern Baptist Convention; State Convention an¬ 
nuals. 

The opportunities for Christian service are so 
many to-day, and books on methods of work are 
so plentiful, that every young person should be 



Educational Plans 


49 


effective in some line of kingdom endeavor. The 
following courses are suggested: 

1. Personal Work: “Method in Soul Winning,” 
Mabie; “ Taking Men Alive,” Trumbull; “ Individ¬ 
ual Work for Individuals,” Trumbull. 

2. Social Service. For treatment, see Chapter VI. 

3. Church Efficiency: “Churches at Work,” 
White; “ Scientific Management in the Churches,” 
Mathews. 

In most Sunday-schools teachers are serving who 
have had little or no training. Many are anxious 
for a better equipment to serve. They cannot at¬ 
tend the teacher-training class on Sunday. Or, per¬ 
haps such a class is not organized. The young 
people’s society should cooperate with the school 
in the conduct of a class. There are many text¬ 
books. Advice should be sought from the Edu¬ 
cational Secretary of the American Baptist Publica¬ 
tion Society. 

The following books will be found valuable: 
“Teacher-Training Essentials,” Tralle; “The 
Pupil and the Teacher,” Weigle; “ Elements of 
Religious Pedagogy,” Pattee; “ The Unfolding 
Life,” Lamoreaux; “ The Training of Sunday- 
school Teachers and Officers,” McElfresh. 

“Train the Teacher” and other First Standard 
Courses will meet the needs of most classes. 

The following books are suggested for class and 
general reading: “The Young Christian and His 

D 



50 The Efficient Young People's Society 


Bible,” Geistweit; “ The Young Christian and His 
Work/’ Grenell; “ The Young Christian and the 
Early Church,” Conley; “Truths that Abide,” 
Dawley; “The Young Christian and His Lord,” 
Kirtley; “Baptist Young People at Work,” Det- 
weiler. 

In many societies a comprehensive educational 
program seems far in the future. If the ideal is 
beyond you, realize on the best you can. Put on 
a small program. Offer one course anyway. Work 
for something more. Development comes from 
feeding and exercise. See that your society re¬ 
ceives proper impression and gives true expression. 

Education and Expression 

We learn to do by doing. We learn to live by 
living. We learn to serve by serving. We attain 
Christian character and culture by active obedi¬ 
ence to God’s will. It is not enough to know; we 
must do. 

The study classes may form splendid units for 
service. The class in Baptist history or principles 
should conduct a society devotional meeting and a 
church prayer-meeting and give larger groups some 
benefit of their studies. They should also distribute 
literature from Baptist missionary and other so¬ 
cieties, and seek to inspire loyalty to denominational 
organized work. This class can do great service in 
securing attendance at denominational rallies, con¬ 
ventions, assemblies, etc. 



Educational Plans 


51 


The class in personal work should use the labora¬ 
tory method and actually do the work. The secret 
of growth and power of a Presbyterian church in 
Illinois was the continued activity of a class of this 
kind. The opportunities for social service are many. 
Be sure the class leads to intelligent service. 

The call to service should be heard in every 
church, and study should lead to the joy of work 
well done and efficiency in personal and social life. 

“ Give diligence to present thyself approved unto 
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
holding a straight course in the word of truth.” 1 

Quiz 

1. Why should educational methods be developed 
in the young people's society? 

2. On what basis should old methods be discarded 
and new ones introduced? 

3. Outline a program of work for a committee 
on education. 

4. Describe the three methods for educational 
work outlined. What modifications would be neces¬ 
sary to make one workable in your society ? 

5. Why is the problem of the teacher so great? 

6. Outline a course of study covering two years 
for your society. 

7. To whom would you write for information 
and advice on educational subjects? 


1 2 Timothy 2 : 15—marginal reading. 



52 The Efficient Young People's Society 


8. How large should a study class be ? Why ? 

9. What two elements are necessary to an ade¬ 
quate educational program? Why both? 

10. How can a young people’s society cooperate 
with the pastor so he can give more time to educa¬ 
tional work? 



V 


MISSIONARY METHODS 

By John M. Moore 

One of the great teachers of the last generation 
used to say to his theological students that there 
were three questions that ought to be asked and 
answered before undertaking any important task. 
These three questions are applicable to anything 
from the playing of a game of chess to the building 
of a railroad: What is it I want to do? Can I 
do it? What is the best way to do it? We may 
perhaps take the second for granted, but the first 
and the third surely call for careful consideration. 

The Missionary Aim 

The great hindrance to missionary advance lies 
not with the people who say they do not believe 
in missions. The number of these is probably com¬ 
paratively small, and they have comparatively little 
weight. The great difficulty grows out of the fact 
that of those who claim to believe in missions the 
larger part think of the missionary enterprise as a 
good cause, a side-issue, something optional and in¬ 
cidental among Christian duties, an elective in the 
curriculum of Christian living. 


53 


54 The Efficient Young People's Society 


The aim of the missionary program in church and 
young people’s society should therefore be to create 
an intelligent, active interest in missions as the nor¬ 
mal expression of the Christian life. Peter and 
John, commanded by the Sanhedrin not “ to teach 
or to preach any more in the name of Jesus,” re¬ 
plied: “We cannot but speak the things that we 
have seen and heard.” It was not only that Jesus 
had commanded the world-wide preaching of the 
gospel, but they themselves had enjoyed an experi¬ 
ence of his peace and power which was sufficient to 
impel them to tell the good news, even though no 
command had ever been given. When some great 
physician discovers a remedy for tuberculosis or 
cancer, we shall expect him to publish it as saving 
truth for which the world is eagerly waiting, and 
we should find it difficult to discover words in the 
English language hot enough to express our indig¬ 
nation at his course if he should not feel impelled 
by the ordinary dictates of humanity to give such 
good news to all men. We have found the sover¬ 
eign remedy for the world’s most terrible malady, 
sin, and we have the remedy which meets unto the 
uttermost both man’s individual need and his so¬ 
cial requirement; and the natural, normal, inevitable 
response of the genuinely Christian spirit is mis¬ 
sions—the proclamation of the gospel to every life 
and its application to all of life. Our methods 
should then be selected with a view to the natural¬ 
izing of the missionary idea in the thinking of the 



Missionary Methods 


55 


people rather than to the presentation of missions as 
a good cause, making claim upon the benevolence 
of good people. 

Leadership 

The primary necessity in every kind of good 
work is good leadership. Throughout the whole 
history of the kingdom it will be seen that God’s 
great method has been that of raising up, in high 
places or low, men and women who should lead 
their fellows. The first meed of the young people’s 
society is therefore the training of missionary 
leaders. 

The Missionary Committee 

There should be a missionary committee made up 
of the most capable, attractive, winsome, devoted 
young people available, a committee that shall take 
its work seriously, not simply willing to prepare it¬ 
self, but demanding opportunity for such prepara¬ 
tion, and unwilling to undertake this important task 
without it. Once or twice a year the missionary 
committee itself should spend six or eight weeks 
taking a course of mission study. If the committee 
is fairly large, it might constitute itself a mission- 
study class without any additional members. If the 
committee is small it could form the nucleus of a 
mission-study class, asking others to join in its 
study. Each year one or more members of the 
missionary committee should take advantage of the 



5 6 The Efficient Young People's Society 


opportunities which are afforded by the summer 
conferences and assemblies. The Missionary Educa¬ 
tion Movement conducts such conferences in dif¬ 
ferent parts of the country annually for the purpose 
of creating a trained missionary leadership for all 
departments of the church life. In many of our 
denominational summer assemblies there are mis¬ 
sion-study classes and conferences for this purpose. 

The Triplex Plan 

The triplex plan of missionary education relates 
the three methods—the mission-study class, a series 
of missionary programs, and the reading of mission¬ 
ary books—to each other in a way by which each of 
these forms of missionary education may help the 
other two. A small group forms the study class, 
which in turn presents the results of its work in a 
series of program meetings to the society, a large 
number of whose members have each read at home 
the text-book studied by the class, or a book re¬ 
lated to it, during the eight weeks in which the 
smaller group has been doing more serious study. 
For a society of medium size, it ought to be pos¬ 
sible to enroll ten people in the study class, and to 
find twenty-five who would agree to read the book. 

The Study Class 

This has been recommended above as the best 
method by which the missionary committee may 
prepare itself, but it should not be confined to the 



Missionary Methods 


57 


committee. It stands for intensive work, for con¬ 
secutive and cumulative interest. In its most ap¬ 
proved and usual form, it is a group of from six 
to twelve persons, who meet weekly for eight ses¬ 
sions to study a text-book under the direction of a 
leader. New text-books, home and foreign, are 
issued annually. The study class may not become 
a popular method, but in every society there ought 
to be found a few young people who want a more 
thorough knowledge of missions than can be obtained 
through occasional programs or casual missionary 
reading. The mission-study class is in harmony 
with the Master’s own method in the training of 
the Twelve. He wishes to get his gospel to the 
ends of the earth, and the steps, as indicated in his 
great prayer in John 17, were: (1) “I sanctify 
myself,” (2) “ for their sakes,” (3) “ for the sake 
of those who shall believe on me through their 
word,” and (4) “ that the world may believe that 
thou hast sent me.” 

So by means of the mission-study class a few 
persons may be gripped in every society, who in 
turn will be centers and sources of missionary 
inspiration and information until through these 
widening circles of influence the last member of the 
society and of the church shall be reached. 

Missionary Programs 

The Conquest Missionary Course provides mate¬ 
rial for a monthly missionary program, and the topics 



58 The Efficient Young People's Society 


recommended are in harmony with the subjects of 
the text-books published year by year, thus fur¬ 
nishing suggestions to the members of the study 
class for the programs which it is recommended 
that they shall present to the whole society. These 
programs appearing regularly in “ Service,” as well 
as those published monthly in “ Missions,” are in¬ 
tended only to be suggestive. 

The best program is always the one in which 
there is a large measure of originality. This fur¬ 
nishes unusual methods. A class which studied 
“ Following the Sunrise,” a centennial history of 
Baptist foreign missions, gave as the results of its 
study a popular program under the subject, “ A 
Centennial Tour.” The class itself appeared as 
a personally conducted party, who had just com¬ 
pleted a tour of our mission fields. The leader of 
the class, as “ conductor,” introduced the mem¬ 
bers of his party, to each of whom was given three 
minutes in which to speak of the thing that inter¬ 
ested him most. By previous arrangement different 
members were assigned different countries, so that 
the discussion should have a sequence and cover 
the entire field of Baptist work abroad. 

Another class, studying “ Immigration,” gave a 
delightful program, in which each member of the 
class impersonated an immigrant, telling why he 
came to America and the impression made upon 
him by the new country. Ten different national¬ 
ities were represented. 



Missionary Methods 


59 


Missionary Reading 

The day has passed when missionary books are 
read only from a sense of duty. Some of the most 
interesting and compelling books that have come 
from the press during the last few years have been 
missionary books, as, for example, “ Ann of Ava,” 
“ Livingstone the Pathfinder/’ “ Social Christianity 
in the Orient,” Steiner’s books on immigration, 
“ Kiowa,” and a score more that might quickly be 
named. A systematic plan should be worked out, 
by which each member of the society shall read at 
least one or two missionary books each year, and 
while there is value in having this reading done in 
connection with the subject studied by the class and 
the presentation of the programs, there are certain 
books like those named above which may profitably 
be circulated at any time. 

Missionary Entertainments 

“ All things to all men ” is a good rule, including, 
of course, only such things as are “ expedient.” 
There are those to whom the missionary sermon or 
program meeting does not appeal strongly, but whose 
attention may be aroused by a missionary enter¬ 
tainment. One of the best of these semidramatic 
methods is “ The Mock Trial.” Two of these are 
available, one for a foreign mission service, entitled 
“ Heathen Nations vs. American Christians,” and 
another on home missions, “ The Indictment of 
Christian America.” There has also been published 



6 o The Efficient Young People's Society 


recently a series of missionary plays on various 
home and foreign mission subjects and a demon¬ 
stration entitled “ The Immigrant Gateway,” re¬ 
producing the arrival of immigrants at Ellis Is¬ 
land. “ Jesus Christ’s Men ” is the title of a 
dramatic story of home and foreign missionary 
beginnings written by Caroline Atwater Mason. 
Where it is not desired to present anything so long, 
chapters may be selected from this remarkable book 
which are sufficiently complete in themselves to pro¬ 
vide an evening’s entertainment. A good plan to 
get people well “ mixed ” at a young people’s social 
is provided in what is called “A Trip to China.” 
Twenty-five views from the Orient are placed about 
the room, and each person present is given a copy 
of the story of the trip, with the request to fill in 
twenty-five blanks from the titles or descriptions 
of the pictures. 

Learn by Doing 

One of the perils connected with our mission- 
study movement is that it may exhaust itself in mere 
talk, failing to eventuate in practical service. One 
of our greatest home mission leaders used to say 
that “ the surest way to petrify the human heart is 
to stir the emotions and then give them nothing to 
do.” The missionary committee should give most 
careful thought to the question of enlisting the 
members of the society in actual missionary work. 
It is difficult to make suggestions because commu- 



Missionary Methods 


61 


nities differ so greatly. The first thing to do is 
to make a study of the needs of your own neigh¬ 
borhood. In every community there are needy 
ones, whose lives can be cheered and perhaps saved 
by the happy services of song and testimony such 
as a group of enthusiastic young people can bring. 

Teaching English to Immigrants 

One of the very finest kinds of missionary service 
is that which has been made possible by Mrs. L. C. 
Barnes in the publication of “ Early Stories and 
Songs for New Students of English.” It contains 
twenty lessons from the Old Testament and twenty- 
one from the New, with some additional lessons 
from the Psalms, entitled “ Early Songs,” and some 
supplementary lessons on numbers, time, money, 
etc. The stories are told in every-day language, 
making use of the words which the immigrant will 
need first. There are suggestions to teachers, which 
are sufficiently explicit to enable any earnest young 
man or woman of average ability who does not 
know one word of any language except English to 
teach individual foreigners or groups of foreigners 
to read and write the English language, even though 
at the start they know no word of it. By use of 
these particular lessons the immigrants receive what 
they want most, the English language, and at the 
same time what they need most, the Bible. 

The value of this work consists not simply in the 
knowledge of the language that is imparted, but 



62 The Efficient Young People’s Society 


most of all in the establishment of friendly, neigh¬ 
borly relations between the churches and the homes 
of these strangers. If in all of our young people’s 
societies for the next ten years this could be made 
a major activity, it would go far toward solving 
our most serious national problem. At the same 
time it is a form of ministry that “ blesses him 
that gives and him that takes.” The young people 
who participate in this kind of Christian service, by 
the enrichment of their lives and the enlargement of 
their sympathies, are helped quite as much as are 
those to whom they minister. 

Life-work Problems 

The young peopled society touches life at that 
point when the most important decisions are being 
made, as, for example, the choice of a life-work. 
It is unquestionably true that there are multitudes 
of men and women who might have been led into 
the ministry of the gospel or into the missionary 
service at home or abroad if only their attention 
had been called to it. No young man or young 
woman should be allowed to tarry long in a Bap¬ 
tist young people’s society or church without being 
challenged by the tremendous opportunities that our 
times offer to those who engage in distinctively 
Christian service. Definite prayer should be offered 
frequently, that from the membership of the society 
some may be called into a distinctive Christian 
ministry, and occasionally the pastor or some other 



Missionary Methods 


63 


strong speaker should be asked to present to the 
young people the claims and the challenge of Chris¬ 
tian missions upon their lives. 

“Fellow Workers for the Truth” 

This is the phrase which John used in his third 
epistle of those who did not or could not enter into 
missionary service, but whose relationship to the 
missionaries was one of the most intimate kind. He 
is writing to his friend Gaius about some mission¬ 
aries who are to visit his home and his church. The 
apostle is eager that they may have a royal welcome. 
He says concerning them that “ for the sake of the 
name they went forth taking nothing of the Gen¬ 
tiles,” and then he adds: “ We therefore ought to 
receive such that we may be fellow workers for the 
truth.” Every member of the society should there¬ 
fore be made to realize that his first duty is to give 
Jesus Christ the refusal of his life for missionary 
services, and then if he is not called to this service, 
but by providential indications is shown that his 
work is to be of some other sort, he should realize 
that even this may mean a real missionary career. 
This is to join heart and hand and life with the men 
and women on the firing-line by working at the 
home base as a “ fellow worker for the truth.” 

Giving 

Methods of missionary giving by the society as 
such are discussed by Mr. Agar in another chap- 



64 The Efficient Young People's Society 


ter, and therefore do not need to be considered here. 
There is, however, one very important service 
which the young people’s society can render, and it 
lies back of whatever method of gathering and 
transmitting funds may be employed. In Christian 
Endeavor circles the Tenth Legion has long been 
employed for the enrolment of those who will agree 
to give at least one-tenth of their income to dis¬ 
tinctively Christian work. There is wide difference 
of opinion as to the Christian obligation of tithing, 
but there is unanimous agreement that the sys¬ 
tematic proportionate giving of some worthy part 
of one’s income is altogether desirable. For most 
people the “ tenth ” is a good proportion with which 
to begin. Every society should therefore bring 
strongly to the attention of every member, at least 
once or twice a year, the claims of Christian work 
upon oue-tenth, more or less, of his income. It is 
not hard to secure the formation of this good 
habit in early life when the income is small; and 
when it is once formed it is likely to persist through¬ 
out life. Time and effort spent in leading young 
men and young women to appreciate their steward¬ 
ship of life and money will bring increasingly large 
dividends through many years to come. 

Prayer 

The more one knows of the stupendous nature of 
our missionary task in America or in the non- 
Christian world, the more he is impressed with its 



Missionary Methods 


65 


difficulty and complexity. Indeed, it is seen to be 
so difficult and complex as to be quite impossible 
apart from a Power that is more than human. In 
the last analysis, therefore, prayer is the one 
supremely potent method of missionary achieve¬ 
ment. The missionary committee may promote 
prayer by selecting a series of prayer topics, which 
shall be presented one at each weekly meeting. In¬ 
formation should be given in connection with the 
topic to make intelligent prayer possible. The mem¬ 
bers of the society should be asked to hold this sub¬ 
ject in mind throughout the week, making it a theme 
for intercession in connection with their daily devo¬ 
tional hour or at other times, as it may be remem¬ 
bered. Another way by which prayer may be pro¬ 
moted is through the formation of little prayer- 
circles, small groups of congenial people who can 
meet together for a few minutes regularly, perhaps 
just before the weekly meeting, to pray for matters 
of common and unusual interest. 

A Unified Program for the Whole Church 

Unity is the watchword in missionary education 
and work too. The old vicious dualism of home 
and foreign missions has been broken down, and we 
are realizing now that the difference is purely ad¬ 
ministrative, that the work of home and foreign 
missions is essentially one. Our five Baptist general 
and women's societies have for years been coop¬ 
erating in the Department of Missionary Educa- 

E 



66 The Efficient Young People's Society 


tion, whose headquarters are at 23 East Twenty- 
sixth Street, New York City. This department is 
their joint agency for the promotion of methods 
and material for missionary education in all depart¬ 
ments of the church. It strongly recommends that 
during given periods special great themes shall be 
studied by the whole church, all departments dur¬ 
ing these periods studying the same subject, and 
each making its contribution to a common fund of 
knowledge and inspiration. The theme recom¬ 
mended for 1915-1916 is “ The Church and the 
Nations,” with the watchword “ Thy kingdom come, 
thy will be done on earth.” The text-books on gen¬ 
eral home and foreign missionary work are entitled, 
respectively, “ The Churches at Work ” and 
“ Rising Churches in Non-Christian Lands.” For 
the woman’s home and foreign mission work, 
respectively, the titles are “ Home Missions in 
Action ” and “ The King’s Highway.” 

A Ten-point Standard 

The department is recommending to the churches 
a ten-point standard of missionary educational 
method as follows: 

1. A church missionary committee. 

2. The presentation of missions from the pulpit. 

3. A mission-study class or classes. 

4. Missionary programs. 

5. The circulation of missionary literature, in¬ 
cluding a club for “ Missions.” 



Missionary Methods 


67 


6. A woman’s missionary organization. 

7. Missionary education in the Sunday-school. 

8. The promotion of prayer for missions. 

9. Enlistment for missionary service in local work 
and as a life-work. 

10. An annual every-member canvass for weekly 
offerings. 

The young people’s society is not mentioned as 
such in the statement of these ten points because 
nearly all of them are applicable in connection with 
young people’s work. 

Missionary Education the Hope of the Church 

Educational processes are slow, but they are sure. 
There is no other way by which the churches of 
to-morrow can be made genuinely and splendidly 
militant and missionary except by the patient, per¬ 
sistent, continuous, cumulative, educational proc¬ 
ess. We must take our task seriously. We must 
take our times seriously. We are living in one of 
the great creative epochs in the history of the human 
race, when the sowing of a decade determines the 
harvest of centuries. Our task is not simply that 
of rescuing individuals from a corrupt and hopeless 
civilization. By the application of the principles and 
ideals of Jesus to our own national life we are de¬ 
termining whether the Republic can endure, and by 
the world-wide proclamation of the gospel and by 
its application to human relationships in the non- 
Christian world we are now determining what kind 



68 The Efficient Young People's Society 


of ideals shall dominate our world life down toward 
the end of the twentieth century when China, for 
example, shall have come out of her present turbu¬ 
lence in her destined place of power in the world. 

Baptist young people of America, you have come 
to the kingdom for such a time as this! 

Quiz 

1. What should be the missionary aim of the so¬ 
ciety ? 

2. What are the best methods of developing lead¬ 
ership ? 

3. What is the triplex plan? 

4. Why should there be a mission-study class? 

5. What are the essentials of a good missionary 
program ? 

6. How may the reading of missionary books be 
promoted ? 

7. Why is the dramatic method advisable in the 
work of missionary education ? 

8. Describe a good plan for local missionary serv¬ 
ice. 

9. What is “ a missionary career ” ? 

10. How may prayer be most effectively pro¬ 
moted ? 



VI 


SOCIAL SERVICE 

By Samuel Zane Batten 

In our time a new term has come into common 
use, and is receiving a large share of attention. It 
is only a name for that spirit of philanthropy and 
service which is as old as Christianity itself; the 
newness is in the present line of interest and activity. 
The spirit and impulse behind the term are old; 
the method and program are new. 

In this chapter we propose to consider the nature 
of social service, to show its relation to other items 
in the Christian program, to indicate some of the 
things to be done in the church to prepare the 
people for effective service in this direction, and to 
suggest some things that may be done by the young 
people. We are here to seek the kingdom of God. 
We must therefore know what to do in order to 
seek that kingdom in all its scope and power. 

The Place of Social Service 

In the complete program of the kingdom there are 
four chief items: 

i. Evangelism: the winning of men unto Jesus 
Christ that they may become like him. This in- 

69 


70 The Efficient Young People's Society 


eludes the work of preaching, and covers the whole 
work of soul-winning. It is a fundamental part 
of the Christian program, and will be necessary to 
the end of the age. 

2. Missions. Christianity is essentially mission¬ 
ary; the Christian program must include the last 
man of the race. By missions we mean much more 
than preaching; we mean the whole blessing of the 
kingdom brought within reach of the uttermost soul. 
Jesus Christ has come to save the whole man— 
spirit, mind, and body; the gospel brings a blessing 
to the man, and the power of the gospel is shown 
in the life of the person, in the family, in the com¬ 
munity, in the whole social order. 

3. Education: the training of men in spirit, mind, 
and body, and their preparation for life and service 
in all the relations and institutions of society. This 
work of education begins when life begins, and 
continues until life’s end. It includes training be¬ 
fore conversion and after conversion. For a per¬ 
son must be prepared for the gospel message, and 
then trained and fitted for large service in the 
kingdom. 

4. Social Service: the application of Christian 
principles to social life, and the endeavor to reaF 
ize in the social order the ideals of the kingdom 
of God. This implies the adjustment of the rela¬ 
tions of men in terms of justice, love, and brother¬ 
hood ; it implies the transformation of social 
conditions; and it finds its consummation in the 



Social Service 


7 1 


building up in the earth of a Christian type of 
human society. 

Each of these items represents an essential part of 
the Christian program. Where all are Christian and 
each is necessary, it is needless to establish any 
preeminence or priority. They who would make 
one first and all the others subordinate, or would 
pit one against another, do not really understand 
any. The evangelist who makes light of social 
service does not understand his evangelism and 
needs to reconceive his commission. The social 
worker who ignores evangelism or missions does 
not understand social service, and needs to go back 
and take a new start. 

That the whole work of the kingdom may be done, 
that the whole life of man may be served, we must 
approach life on all sides, and must work by vari¬ 
ous methods. The Son of man, as the Gospels show, 
fulfilled a manifold ministry and was concerned for 
the whole of man. Thus social service is an essen¬ 
tial part of the Christian program, and is to be 
placed on an equality with all other forms of Chris¬ 
tian effort. 

The Nature of Social Service 

It is important to understand the spirit and 
method of this Christian form of effort. As we 
shall see, it aids all other items of the Christian pro¬ 
gram, and yet it works by methods and agencies of 
its own. Social service may be distinguished from 



72 The Efficient Young People's Society 


some things with which it is often confounded. In 
the first place, it is neither the theory nor practice 
of church socials, though it believes in sociability. 
It is not sociology, though it aims to be sociological. 
It is not socialism, as many seem to suspect; nor is 
it antisocialism; but it does believe in social and 
economic reconstruction. It is not soup-kitchens, or¬ 
phanages, rescue missions, and temperance cam¬ 
paigns, though it believes in helping people, and 
some of these things may be necessary. It is more 
fundamental and more far-reaching than any of 
these. 

Social service deals with man as a social being 
in his social relations and institutions. Man’s life is 
knit up with that of his fellows. It is impossible 
to separate a man from his relationships and deal 
with him all by himself. He is not an individual 
and a social being; but the fundamental fact in his 
life is his social nature. It is most unfortunate that 
these two words, the individual and the social, should 
have been separated and each made the program of a 
party. We never think rightly of man till we learn 
to think of him as a social being. To know him, we 
must know him in his relations. To help him, we 
must deal with him in his relations. 

Social service deals with social causes and condi¬ 
tions. We do not understand anything till we un¬ 
derstand its causes. Social evils have social causes 
that must always be taken into account. Poverty 
and disease, to take two concrete illustrations, have 



Social Service 


73 


many causes, some personal, some social; as far as 
they have social causes they demand social action. 

Social service demands social and collective ac¬ 
tion. Personal charity may feed the hungry child, 
but social service seeks to know why the child is 
destitute. Philanthropy may nurse the consumptive 
patient, but social service deals with the causes of 
tuberculosis in defective conditions. Evangelism 
may seek to win the drunkard back to God and 
goodness, but social service seeks to eliminate the 
whole liquor traffic. Personal effort may be suf¬ 
ficient in the one case, but social and collective ef¬ 
fort are necessary in the other. We can nurse the 
sick child by personal effort, but social action is 
necessary in order to prevent typhoid fever. 

This enables us to frame a working definition as 
follows: Social service embraces all those forms of 
effort for man’s redemption which in a conscious 
way and by collective action undertake to improve 
living conditions and to transform human society. 

It is admitted by all that social effects follow the 
gospel of Christ. But this implies more than some 
people suppose. There are no secondary and inci¬ 
dental things in the Christian program. Whatever 
follows the gospel as a result is a necessary part of 
the gospel and a necessary object of Christian effort. 
Social service declares that Christian people should 
consciously and directly seek Christian social results. 

Social service recognizes the fact that man is 
spirit and body; not spirit alone or body alone, but 



74 The Efficient Young People's Society 


spirit and body so interknit and interdependent that 
neither can be considered apart from the other. 
The only man we know is spirit and body; the only 
way to reach the spirit is through the body, for 
when the spirit has cast off the body we cannot 
reach it at all. Social service recognizes the fact that 
man is made in society, for society, and by society. 
It recognizes the fact that social conditions, the 
ideas, the ideals, the atmosphere in which one lives 
determine many things in man’s life from the hour 
of birth till the end of his days, and so it seeks 
to secure for each person such conditions as shall 
induce a right course of life and shall build char¬ 
acter for the kingdom of God. 

Social Studies for Young People 

Social service is both a spirit and a program. 
It is an attitude of mind, a consciousness, a con¬ 
science, an impulse, before it is a social reality, a 
method, an institution, an organization. That we 
may do effective work in social service we must 
learn to think in social terms. This means that the 
church should have a comprehensive program of 
education through its young people. Several prin¬ 
ciples may be stated which are fundamental in a 
program of education in social service. 

i. We are called to be members of the kingdom 
of God and to seek that kingdom in the world. 
Young people must learn that the family, the Church, 
the State, the community, the industrial order are 



Social Service 


75 


at once realms of the kingdom’s reign and means 
of its advance. Right living is social living. It is 
quite necessary, in view of this, that Christians be 
trained for service in and through all the institutions 
just named. 

The church is the training-school of the king¬ 
dom. Many churches have never imagined that 
they have any such commission. Their conception 
of the kingdom is narrowed to the boundaries of 
the church; they have supposed their only work is 
to bring people into the church and to prepare them 
for life in heaven. This is a part, important, to 
be sure; but, after all, only a part of the church’s 
work. There is the tremendous obligation to prepare 
and train people for life in the family, the Church, 
the State, the community, and the industrial order. 
Some agency must do this work; the church is 
divinely called to perform it. No church can be 
called efficient that fails in this function. 

2. The social mind must precede the social pro¬ 
gram. People must gain what may be called the 
social consciousness, think in terms of social causa¬ 
tion, learn to appraise social values, and know what 
are the things that promote human well-being. They 
must possess social sympathies and social imagina¬ 
tion, social passion and enthusiasm, so that they will 
acquire the instinct of social service. They need a 
social conscience that will be quick to feel the evils 
of society and to react against them. They must 
see that social service is essentially religious and 



76 The Efficient Young People's Society 


spiritual work. They need a great ideal, which shall 
give meaning to life and include all lesser ideals. 
Above all, there must be the sacrificial attitude of 
mind. Nothing but a crucified Christianity can 
ever win the world to a crucified Christ. 

The Organization for Service 

According to the standard adopted by the North¬ 
ern Baptist Convention and commended to the 
churches: “ Every church should have a construct¬ 
ive program for serving the social needs of its 
community, both individually and through the largest 
possible cooperation with other agencies of human 
uplift. ,, 

The church is not the whole kingdom of God, and 
by itself can never meet the whole need of man and 
fulfil the redemptive purpose of Christ. The other 
institutions of life, as the family and the state, are 
also here in the will of God with a divine function 
to fulfil in the economy of life. The recognition 
of this truth will save the church from possible 
narrowness—the narrowness of trying to reduce the 
kingdom to its limited area and excluding all other 
interests of life—and from possible diffuseness—the 
diffuseness of trying to do everything, and thereby 
scattering its energies. The recognition of this 
truth will also properly relate the work of the 
church to the other agencies of life, and will save 
men from the mistake of supposing that they are 
doing secular work if they are not working directly 



Social Service 


77 


through the church. It will also lead men to know 
their gifts, to do the special work for which they 
are fitted, to honor the church without minimizing 
the other agencies of life, and to work through other 
institutions while honoring the church and pro¬ 
moting its work. 

The church as the training-school of the kingdom 
is a peculiar factor in creating the social conscience, 
equipping men with firm-set ethical principles, 
developing in them the sacrificial spirit, giving them a 
great inspiring ideal, and then sending them out into 
the world to serve God and seek his righteousness 
along the line of their daily work and in and 
through the institutions of which they are a part. 

Every church therefore should create such an 
organization within itself as may be necessary for 
the work in hand. In most cases it is best to ap¬ 
point a social service committee to have general 
direction of the church’s social activities. This com¬ 
mittee should contain representatives from the 
deacons, the Bible-school, the young people’s so¬ 
ciety, the men’s brotherhood, the women’s society, 
with the pastor a member ex officio. Persons should 
be chosen for membership on this committee who 
are especially interested in social service and who 
show special fitness. There may be committees for 
merely honorary and ornamental members, but this 
is not one of them. 

The committee should organize with a chairman 
and a secretary, and should have regular meetings at 



78 The Efficient Young People's Society 


least once a month. It should study carefully the 
local situation, the needs of the community, the re¬ 
sources of the church, and should have a definite 
constructive program. It should create such sub¬ 
committees as may be needed for the work. In 
many cases it may be best toi make a division of 
labor and assign some special line of work to each 
of the various organizations. The committee should 
have a well-formulated plan of social service in¬ 
struction in the church and its different depart¬ 
ments. It should cooperate with the educational 
committee and all other agencies of the church 
which are seeking to guide the thought and to train 
the conscience of the people. It should keep the 
church and congregation informed concerning such 
matters as demand their interest and effort. It 
should suggest ways whereby the efforts of the 
people may become most effective in redemption of 
the community. 

The Program of Action 

In this final section we must note the nature of 
our social program and several items that are im¬ 
plied in it. Some things are to be done in the 
church; some things are to be done by the church; 
and many things are to be done by the people of 
good will through community agencies. 

i. Make the church a social center. Man is by 
nature a social being. Religion is a social force. 
“ The Bible,” says John Wesley, “ knows nothing 



Social Service 


79 


of a solitary religion.” An important part of our 
work consists in bringing people together and in 
promoting fellowship. Request the pastor to preach 
on the social aspects of Christianity. Good service 
can be done by providing an open forum for the 
discussion of social, industrial, and community ques¬ 
tions. In an industrial community this work of 
bringing various elements together and securing a 
frank and fraternal discussion is valuable. In times 
of industrial strife a bitter price is paid for the 
lack of understanding on the part of employers and 
employees. 

Train the people, especially the young, in social 
service by teaching and example, by stereopticon 
lectures, and by having them visit social institutions. 
Organize the church for an efficient and loving 
ministry of mercy. Use scientific and constructive 
methods in charity, seeking rather to find work than 
to give money, but using money of course where it 
is needed. Remember always to help people and 
not merely to feed beggars. Remember also that 
the church is to be the organized love and help¬ 
fulness in its community. Valuable material bear¬ 
ing on this part of the program may be found in 
issues of the “ Social Service Series,” especially 
those on “ The Church and the Community.” 

2. Make the church a social force in its com¬ 
munity. People must be good, but they must be 
good for something. Goodness is that which 
avails in making good. Regenerate lives de- 



8 o The Efficient Young People’s Society 


mand a regenerate environment. Bring the church 
into touch with the best philanthropic and social 
agencies, whether civic or private. Encourage the 
city or town to take up welfare work for the peo¬ 
ple, such as playgrounds, baths, sanitation, good 
housing, supervision of shows, etc. Ask the pastor 
to announce the primary election and urge all voters 
to register; circulate a voter’s pledge, asking every 
voter to register, to vote, to know the qualifications 
of candidates and the question at issue. 

By all means have Christian people cooperate with 
the forces of the community making for community 
progress. The church that cooperates with these 
agencies for charity, health, education, sanitation, 
recreation, civic betterment, and industrial progress 
thereby ministers to the whole community and in¬ 
creases its usefulness manifold. 

3. Get knowledge of the community, for this 
must precede community service if the latter is to 
be intelligent and effective. Community study is 
necessary, therefore, that we may know whether 
the community is growing in a normal and healthy 
manner. It is necessary that we may know what are 
the things that hurt the lives of our fellows and 
hinder the community’s progress, and what are 
the forces and factors for good that exist and are 
available. 

This community study, or survey, as it is called, 
may be done in one of several ways. The people 
may call in some expert, who shall make a thor- 



Social Service 


81 


ough analytic and scientific survey. Or it may be 
done by a group of the people who divide up the 
field and assign to various committees some special 
task, or by a church in its own immediate parish. 
Each method has its advantages, which we need 
not here consider. It is sufficient to say that each 
community must be guided by conditions and cir¬ 
cumstances. 

In this study special attention should be given 
to such things as population, church life, educa¬ 
tion, recreation, health, housing conditions, labor 
and industry, charitable organizations, social vices, 
courts and jails, the public morals, the civic admin¬ 
istration. 

Take a map of the community and from the 
Board of Health secure the statistics showing the 
residence of all persons dying from tuberculosis, 
typhoid fever, scarlet fever, dysentery, summer com¬ 
plaint, etc. Then find the causes why one section 
has a higher mortality rate than the community as 
a whole. Take action to procure the removal of 
the causes of the evils and to improve civic con¬ 
ditions. 

4. Practise your citizenship. Christian people are 
called to be citizens in the state and to bear their 
share of responsibility for political conditions. The 
good Christian is a good citizen. A citizen who 
shirks his obligations to society is not a good Chris¬ 
tian. In many States men and women are full cit¬ 
izens and voters; in all States they will be in 


F 



82 The Efficient Young People's Society 


course of time. Several things are vital in the prac¬ 
tice of citizenship. 

Young people should study the meaning of the 
state, the functions of government, the duties of 
citizens, the problems of democracy. They should 
know why the state is here, what it can do for 
human redemption, and the relation of the state to 
the kingdom of God. 

In summary, there are four things to be kept in 
mind: 

First of all, it may be said that there is no royal 
and easy road to social redemption. We must re¬ 
member that we have to do with people, some of 
whom are uninformed and some of whom are 
wrongly informed; some are selfish, and many do 
not like to be disturbed; some have interests that 
are at stake in social evils and they resent all in¬ 
terference. We have to do with social evils, some 
of which are entrenched in self-interest, in custom, 
in law, and institutions. People are poorly trained 
in the art of team-work, and will not think, speak, 
act, vote together. To inform the mind, to arouse 
the conscience, to secure team-work, to cure a social 
evil, requires toil and time, patience and sacrifice. 

Secondly, it is necessary that we work in an intel¬ 
ligent, rational way. Man, in so far as he is a 
rational being, is one who looks before and after. 
He sees an end and consciously seeks it. He knows 
that results follow causes, and so he secures results 
by setting causes to work. More than that, he 



Social Service 


83 


learns to see things in their relations and to think 
things together. If one were asked what is doing 
most to hinder the advance of the kingdom, the 
wrong thinking of bad men or the small thinking of 
good men, he would have to confess that it is the 
latter. If we would have redemptive results in this 
world we must sow redemptive forces. If we 
would see large results in this world we must plan 
for large things. All Christian workers, and espe¬ 
cially young people, should have a large, inclusive, 
constructive, scientific Christian program. 

Thirdly, we must remember that social service, be¬ 
cause it is social service, means much more than 
individual effort. People are asking what they can 
do in the line of social service, and they imply that 
any one anywhere by himself can do service that is 
social. We must remember that social service deals 
with social causes and conditions, and that it de¬ 
mands social and collective effort. The first requi¬ 
site in this form of service is the possession of the 
social spirit, the willingness to cooperate with others 
and to do team-work. 

This means that we must learn to work in and 
through existing agencies and organizations. The 
great outstanding institutions of the kingdom of 
God are already here; so we need not set ourselves 
the superfluous task of creating new machinery. In 
every community there are probably enough agencies 
already in existence for doing all the work that 
needs to be done. Some are ineffective; some are 



84 The Efficient Young People's Society 


without vision and program; some have machinery, 
but no dynamic. We must learn to work in and 
through these agencies, to understand their true 
meaning and function, to infuse into them the re¬ 
ligious spirit, and to make them channels through 
which the devotion of Christian people shall flow 
forth to bless and save. 

Fourthly, young people should understand that 
their service, to be social and to achieve large results, 
demands social and collective action. In the earlier 
years of life children should be trained to help 
others, so that the spirit of service may be devel¬ 
oped and may be natural to them. They may be 
taught to gather flowers and take them to people 
in hospitals; they may collect money to give city 
children a summer outing in the country; they may 
furnish a Christmas dinner and entertainment for 
children in a city mission; they may be taught 
to be kind to' birds and animals; they may be in¬ 
terested in a clean-up campaign and in sanitary 
homes. But before all and beyond all, they should 
be taught by example and precept to be kind to 
one another, to be gentle in speech, to think of 
others, to do' some helpful deed each day, to per¬ 
form the numberless but priceless acts of daily 
courtesy. All these things should become the set¬ 
tled attitude and habit of life, and should be prac¬ 
tised by all persons of all ages. 

In addition to these, however, there are special 
forms of service which belong to young people, to 



Social Service 


85 


young men and women who are passing out of 
adolescence into adult life, who are called to be 
makers of the home, members in the church, work¬ 
ers in the community, and citizens in the state. 
In the early years the young may be taught to help 
without much inquiry into causes and conditions. 
But in the case of young people who are coming 
into manhood and womanhood and are called to 
live by reason and seek definite ends, it is necessary 
to go beyond relief and charity, to prevention and 
cure. The child may simply wish to help others, but 
the adult must consciously seek to create institutions. 
Young people are, or soon will be, citizens in the 
city and state; they must therefore understand the 
meaning of their citizenship and must prepare them¬ 
selves for their service. They should take an in¬ 
terest in the life of their community, and should 
study its form of government. They should take a 
part in the community’s interests and activities; they 
may therefore attend sessions of the city council, 
meetings of the library association and the charity 
organization. They should study the methods of 
the juvenile court, and should know its aims and 
methods. More than this, they are called to be 
workers in the industrial world, and to make the 
principles of Christ regnant there. They should 
therefore study industrial conditions, know whether 
fair wages are paid, how working people live, 
whether there is friction between employers and em¬ 
ployees and why, and what can be done to improve 



86 


The Efficient Young Peoples Society 


labor conditions and to promote and preserve peace 
in the industrial world. 

Something can be done in every community. 
Whatever can be done ought to be done. Whatever 
ought to be done can be done. 

There are no necessary evils. If a thing is evil, 
it is not necessary. If a thing is necessary, it is not 
evil. We must therefore challenge every evil and 
must believe that it is not invincible—it can be 
destroyed. 

Any effort that will help any person in any way 
is the translation into deed of some article of the 
Christian faith. There is only one question that 
need concern us therefore: Will this effort help any 
person? Will it make it easier for some one to do 
right and easier for no one to do wrong? 

There can be no miracle without faith. If we 
expected more of ourselves we might have much 
larger results to show. The faith that evil is weak 
and the kingdom can be established is half the 
victory. 

Quiz 

1. Name and define the four chief terms in the 
complete program of the kingdom. 

2. Explain what social service means. 

3. What elements make up the social mind? 

4. Tell what is the business of the church in its 
difference from other institutions of social service. 

5. Outline a social program for the church. 



Social Service 


8 7 


6. How may a church be made a greater social 
force in the community? 

7. Outline a community survey. 

8. Name some of the hindrances to social re¬ 
demption. 

9. What is the prime requisite in social service ? 

10. How may young people busy themselves in 
social service?. 



VII 


THE MEMBERSHIP 

By George A. Briggs 

Now ye are the body of Christ and severally members 
thereof (i Cor. 12 : 27). 

Our age thinks in terms of the kingdom of heaven. 
Our ambition is to see it realized in our day. We 
are under the spell of its greatness and in the 
grip of its mighty forces. The foundation has been 
laid with Jesus Christ as the corner-stone. The 
fathers have builded as led by the Spirit. We are 
become the inheritors of their vision and the execu¬ 
tors of their will. We have learned to pray “ Thy 
kingdom come ”; how shall we hasten its appearing ? 
The army of young people has been mobilized. 
What shall be the plan of campaign? Shall we 
seek to destroy the forms of activity that the past 
has bequeathed us, as though they were wrong or 
outgrown; or, shall we accept them as God’s plans 
and seek to develop our energies through these 
forms? We prefer the latter. 

In the kingdom’s working force are many de¬ 
nominations. The Baptist denomination is but one 
of the many. It has a glorious record. It has 
been signally honored of God. Its growth has been 
88 


The Membership 


89 


phenomenal. Its missions are world-wide. Its or¬ 
ganization is simple, and in harmony with the 
most advanced thought of the day. Its opportunity 
is unlimited. We who belong to it can best hasten 
the coming of the kingdom by increasing its ef¬ 
ficiency, developing its resources, clarifying its 
vision, and intensifying its efforts. The denomina¬ 
tion is no stronger than its units. The church that 
is weak weakens the denomination, retards the king¬ 
dom, and hinders the plans of Christ. 

The church, therefore, must be strong and ef¬ 
ficient. The church of to-day, however, is not 
a single organization but a group of related organ¬ 
izations. If these can be imbued with the same 
spirit and controlled by the same ideals, if Christ be 
all and in all, the result is an organism. As such, 
it can be honestly called the body of Christ. How¬ 
ever, her problem is one of increasing complexity, 
for every minor organization that partakes not of 
the life of her Lord weakens her effectiveness and, 
by so much, retards the kingdom. “If thine eye 
offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee ” 
shows how serious a peril Jesus saw in a diseased 
organ. 

The young people's society must cherish the 
ideals of its denomination. Only thus can it mean 
the most to the kingdom. These ideals are em¬ 
bodied in the articles of faith, the covenant, and the 
ordinances of the church. In the Baptist church 
individual liberty and initiative reach high-water 



go The Efficient Young People's Society 


mark. Organization is reduced to its lowest terms 
and the spirit of Christ is depended on to unify the 
forces. If Christ set out to build his kingdom with 
a citizenship of twice-born men, and if a young 
people’s society hopes to be a part of that kingdom, 
one standard for membership is already fixed. They 
must be twice-born individuals. If, as he declared, 
“ Except a man be born again he cannot see the 
kingdom of heaven,” the society that departs from 
his standard will be in danger of falling into the 
ditch and pulling its associate members in with it 
from sheer inability to see. If the indwelling Christ 
is necessary to make possible the performance of 
the mighty tasks assigned to the church, then surely 
this branch of the church that is made up of untried 
soldiers cannot afford to be indifferent to his decla¬ 
ration, “ Without me ye can do nothing.” 

No organization within the church more com¬ 
pletely embodies its. ideals than the young people’s 
society. It is a church within a church, a train¬ 
ing-church, or, to be more exact, an adolescent 
church. In choosing its active membership, it must 
hold to those kingdom standards that lie at the foun¬ 
dation of both denomination and church, or it will 
be a source of weakness and not strength. There¬ 
fore every active member of a young people’s so¬ 
ciety should be a member of a Baptist church or 
able to answer its test for membership. A society 
whose active membership, its voting, its planning, 
and executive constituency, is not twice-born peo- 



The Membership 


9 i 


pie, endangers the ultimate development of the king¬ 
dom. Hold to these standards for the sake of the 
kingdom, the denomination, the church, and your¬ 
selves, for in a few years you will be the church, 
the embodiment of its militant activities, and the 
bearers of its spiritual responsibilities. 

Working Principles 

Christ’s parable of the Great Supper illustrates an 
eternal truth. Preparation is not the full measure 
of responsibility. The announcement of the feast 
does not bring the people. That method will not 
build up the church. It will not keep a young 
people’s society up to a standard of efficiency. The 
membership committee is not a reception committee 
that waits to welcome eager throngs seeking to enter 
in. The children of this world are all from Mis¬ 
souri when it comes to joining a young people’s so¬ 
ciety. The committee that is to do< the showing 
must be carefully selected and aware of the dif¬ 
ficulties to be met with. The details of their work 
would fill a volume, but the principles that should 
govern them are simple. There seem to be but two 
such principles. Which should be given first rank 
is not for us to say, for they are coordinate and 
interact. One must of necessity have priority of 
statements, so we say, first, seek young people who 
can help the society; not necessarily those who 
possess all the Christian graces, but those who possess 
one to a sufficient degree to be aggressive. Devo- 



92 The Efficient Young People's Society 


tional spirit, missionary zeal, social strength, finan¬ 
cial ability, presiding genius, generosity, leadership, 
these are some of the qualities necessary to the 
make-up of a society that purposes to be an organ 
in the organism that is called the church. They are 
to be found in every social group, and the member¬ 
ship committee should be always on the lookout for 
them. A society lacking leadership in one or two 
departments may turn temporarily to the pastor. 
This should, however, but stimulate the committee 
to secure some one as quickly as possible for that 
place for the sake of the society as well as of the 
pastor. 

In the second place, seek those whom the society 
can help. Middle adolescence, from fourteen to 
seventeen, develops the independent and self-asser¬ 
tive qualities of character. These qualities are es¬ 
sential to the manhood and womanhood that is 
to come, but very trying in the home and in the 
school and Sunday-school. Initiative is abundant, 
but judgment is not yet developed in due propor¬ 
tion. The adolescent church, whose active members 
are Christians, furnishes an ideal training-school for 
such. The later adolescent period, beginning at 
sixteen, is characterized by cooperating tendencies. 
These make the work of the society easier, and 
make possible the tempering of aggressiveness and 
the development of judgment. The desire to do 
things can be gratified in a measure, and a begin¬ 
ning can be made in unfolding the mystery of the 



The Membership 


93 


godliness of patience and persistence. Many a 
young person is profoundly stirred by these tenden¬ 
cies, and because he does not understand himself 
fully, does not know where to seek a congenial and 
helpful environment. 

Such a one may not be noted for any of the 
Christian graces, and yet Have many of them in em¬ 
bryo. The Scripture is daily fulfilled in every com¬ 
munity : “ There standeth in your midst one whom 
ye know not.” To find him and attach him is a 
great work, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 
The society can be and ought to be a training-school 
for church and denominational leaders. To be such, 
it must be a working society. Work alone will de¬ 
velop character. “ The field is the world,” and so a 
map of it should always be in sight. “ The good 
seed are the children of the kingdom,” and the 
knowledge of those who have finished their work, 
and acquaintance with those still active will make 
the whole field seem a harvest-field indeed. 

In working for associate members, care should 
be exercised to have them come in touch with those 
activities that they are inclined toward. A carefully 
planned social, with a good time in reasonable hours 
and good company, will possibly make the strongest 
appeal. However, the educational work will draw 
many. While youth delights in a good time, it is in¬ 
tensely idealistic and altruistic. The society that has 
a carefully developed missionary work or a live so¬ 
cial service department will find these a strong 



94 The Efficient Young People's Society 


attraction to many. Music attracts nearly all God’s 
creatures. It can become the basis of appeal to 
many if properly developed. 

In its search for those who may be helped, the 
membership committee will need the active coopera¬ 
tion of all the other committees. Indeed, the great 
value of the society is the ever-present need of 
cooperation, of patience, and of persistence. 

Methods of Working for New Members 

There are but two possible ways to catch people 
alive. We may borrow the Master’s figure of fish¬ 
ing for them and say, you may catch them with 
hook and line or with a net. The first presupposes 
a knowledge of the habits and tastes of the persons 
sought, because the appeal is the specific one. The 
second method recognizes the fact that people are 
like fish, in that some of the finest specimens are 
wont to swim in shoals with those of little practical 
value. The first may appeal to you as the most 
scientific, but the second is depended on to feed the 
race. The first may seem to insure the quality of 
your membership. The second will certainly in¬ 
crease the quantity. If the church were a human 
organization, human judgment would have to be the 
measure of increase. The church is, however, a 
divine organization, and God insists on doing the 
choosing in a large measure himself. A careful 
canvass of the workers in any society will reveal 
a surprisingly large number who can explain their 



The Membership 


95 


presence and interest there only as the work of the 
Holy Spirit. It is surprising to note how many of 
the leaders of our day in religious work have been 
gathered in the net. Quantity alone does not meas¬ 
ure the results. God honors the method that gives 
him a chance to do some of the choosing according 
to his own judgment. Therefore work all the time 
for individuals, and at least once a quarter draw 
the net and pray that big fish may come in with 
the draught. 

Conserving New Members 

Many a tentative worker has been chilled by 
neglect till his usefulness is sadly impaired. Read 
carefully Acts 28 : 15, and make it the basis of 
your treatment of all new members until they are 
thoroughly at home with you. 

To be at the door with a cordial hand-shaking and 
a word of welcome is a part of the fellowship of the 
apostles of which we sing very heartily, but our prac¬ 
tice is sparing. “ Greet one another with a holy 
kiss,” is one of Paul’s favorite injunctions. “ One 
is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brothers.” 
Too many times we act as if we were strangers or 
in quarantine. To carry this part of the work out as 
it should be done, some one must be at the church 
ahead of time. Somebody has a great opportunity 
to serve in this field, and while he will not be stimu¬ 
lated, he will not be harassed, by competition to any 
appreciable extent. 



g6 The Efficient Young People's Society 


Visitation 

Plan a systematic visitation of members at least 
four times a year. Follow the Master’s plan and 
send your visitors in teams of two each. Select an 
afternoon, possibly Sunday, and make a careful list 
of calling-places. Give each team a list that can be 
visited in three hours at most. Announce the day 
and plan several Sundays in advance and pray for 
the visitors. Calls should not exceed fifteen minutes 
in duration, and no subject should be discussed that 
does not relate strictly to the society, its work, and 
its relation to the church, the kingdom, or the com¬ 
munity. Two will succeed where one will be sure to 
fail. Keep a record of every call. Plan to follow 
up the clues obtained. Give each team a new list for 
the succeeding visits till the whole parish has been 
covered. Let no business or solicitation creep in 
“ to save steps.” That was Jesus' way; try it. 
People of all ages like to be cultivated for their 
own sakes. You will be surprised at the hearty re¬ 
sponse and at the influence the visits will have on 
attendance and interest. All the preparation you 
need is a willing heart and a careful reading of 
the tenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Start all teams 
from the church, and have the officers there to pray 
with them before they start. 

Acquaintance 

This may seem like carrying coals to* Newcastle, but 
there is often something to be gained by a method 



The Membership 


97 


that has worked. There is no place where people 
warm up as quickly or as thoroughly as at a 
fellowship meal. The group does not need to be a 
large one, possibly should not be a large one. After 
the meal have each one in turn tell in ten minutes 
the story of his life, touching upon the things that 
have influenced him most. Note the things that have 
influenced him most, the age at which they im¬ 
pressed him, and the kind of people who appealed 
to him. Here is the basis for advanced work that is 
dependable. Not only have you become acquainted 
with each other, but you have learned some of the 
secrets of the whole race of men and women. 

Our Problem 

The problem hardest to solve in young people’s 
work is how to find time and energy sufficient for 
the work. If it were the only organization that 
called for our time and strength, there would be 
no problem worth the name, but with every passing 
year our relations become more complex. This is 
true in the church, and even more so outside the 
church. The smaller the community and church, the 
more calls there are upon those who can and will 
work. With this in view, every plan suggested here 
is simple and so systematized that a maximum of 
result is provided for with a minimum of labor 
and time. However, when all has been done that is 
possible in the way of system, the problem is still 
that will stagger the faint of heart. This is 
G 


one 



98 The Efficient Young People's Society 


the crowning reason why the active membership 
should be twice-born people. Christ always asks 
more of us than we can do alone. The church 
always lays upon us burdens that are too great for 
our unaided strength. The kingdom in its growth 
is the record of impossibilities performed. Because 
men in their own wisdom and strength had failed, 
God sent his Son that the world through him might 
be saved. 

I would, in a closing word, warn all against the 
peril of measuring your society by its numbers. 
Quality, not quantity, if those terms have the true 
meaning, is the measure of efficiency and success. 
If Christ was content with securing and training 
twelve men as the most conspicuous result of his 
ministry, then you and I must attach a new value to 
individuals and the work we may do for them. 
If we are controlled by the right principles, the 
methods will come as we apply them. Therefore the 
best of all authorities to consult is the Scriptures 
of the New Testament. Grace be with you all. 

Quiz 

1. What relation does the Baptist denomination 
bear to the kingdom? 

2. How can a Baptist church best help advance 
the kingdom? 

3. When is a church strong and efficient? 

4. On what basis are we justified in working for 
members who will strengthen the society? 



The Membership 


99 


5. What should be the test of fitness for active 
membership ? 

6. Judging by the growth of denominations, does 
God honor the net method of fishing for men? 

7. Can a young people’s society that is not work¬ 
ing in harmony with its denomination attain the 
highest success? 

8. How can the difficulties that arise from com¬ 
plex interests be overcome? 

9. Make a list of the difficult things Christ com¬ 
manded his disciples to do. 

10. When is the church worthy to be called the 
body of Christ? 



VIII 


STEWARDSHIP 

By Frederick A. Agar 

Bought with a Price 

God had a great purpose in our salvation. Lov¬ 
ing us while we were yet sinners, he gave his Son 
to die that we might be saved from sin to a life of 
right doing, thereby glorifying his great name. 

To do right we must know the will of God and 
then seek always to do that will. The doing of his 
will is to become a simple habit of life. God’s 
ownership of us must become increasingly evident 
from our purposes and deeds. 

We need also to remember that “ the earth is 
the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, 
and all that therein is.” The Christian and his 
possessions must go together. Every one must 
therefore recognize the ownership of God in the 
use he makes of all he has and is. 

What Ownership Involves 

As children of God, we literally belong to him. 
Such ownership on his part carries with it all that 
inheres in or belongs to our life. An individual can¬ 
not give himself to God and then have the com- 
ioo 


Stezvardship 


IOI 


ponent parts of his life separate from his ownership 
by the Lord. 

There are those who think they give themselves 
to God, who then come to the church, saying, “ I am 
now a child of God, please take me into the fel¬ 
lowship of thei household of faith.” And having 
become children of God and church-members, they 
live their lives with the idea that their time, energy, 
and possessions have had no part in the transaction. 
But their life and their time must go together, 
energy is hand in hand with the same life, and 
money is a truly wonderful representative of per¬ 
sonality—it represents the person; it is the ego. 

What I possess goes with me when my life be¬ 
comes His. What I may come into possession of 
afterward comes to me usually by my exchanging 
some of myself, my time and energy, for that which 
takes its place, money. So it is just a transaction 
in different mediums of exchange, all of which are 
part of a life. The life is owned by God, and the 
change of one element for another in a life thus 
owned is part of that owner’s plan for the develop¬ 
ment of what is his. 

As owner, he therefore commits to us the use of 
what he holds title to, telling us his will concerning 
it, and trusting us to do it. We are therefore 
stewards. A faithful, true steward does not admin¬ 
ister what he holds to suit himself, he follows the 
owner’s directions. It is the owner’s will that we 
give freely, regularly, and proportionately. 



102 The Efficient Young Peoples Society 


Giving a Vital Function 

In old countries large estates have stewards. 
They are often called “ functionaries ” because 
their office makes necessary the performance of cer¬ 
tain functions. Those functions are vital to the office 
they hold, and failure to perform those duties would 
lead to the loss of their stewardship. Our phys¬ 
ical bodies have certain essential functions which 
are necessary to life and health, such as heart action, 
respiration, digestion. Let these great activities 
cease in a body, and life departs. The spiritual life 
likewise has certain essential functions which must 
be performed if the life is to be maintained and be 
healthy. These activities are those that inhere in 
our stewardship of time, energy, and property. 
Giving is one of these necessary activities. That is 
proved by the fact that the people who attend the 
house of worship with more or less regularity are 
those who give regularly. Almost always you will 
find that those who give regularly attend worship 
quite frequently, and those who worship and give 
are doing practically all the work that is being done 
in the church for its kingdom interests. 

Ownership must be acknowledged and recognized. 
If you live in a house belonging to some one else 
a mere word of acknowledgment as to ownership is 
not sufficient. A rental fixed by the owner must be 
paid to suit his convenience. 

It is not enough for us to say that God is owner 
of what we possess. It is necessary that we give 



Stewardship 


103 


in accordance with the owner's bill as proclaimed in 
his word. 

Giving Emphasized in Bible 

The Old and New Testaments repeatedly speak 
of giving and of what is involved in that act of 
stewardship. A great truth, like justification by faith, 
is mentioned several times, but giving and related 
things find repeated and emphatic mention. This 
emphasis must surely mean that the subject is one 
of great importance. Study such a teaching as that 
found in Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, 
where he portrays the victory over death and the 
grave through Jesus Christ. He couples to that vic¬ 
tory a duty: “ Now concerning the collection for the 
saints, as I have given order to the churches of 
Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the 
week let every one of you lay by him in store as 
God hath prospered him.” The victory and the 
giving are one and the same thing. Or look at the 
ninth chapter in his second letter to the Corin¬ 
thians, where he writes at length upon the subject 
of giving, and then adds, “ Thanks be unto God for 
his unspeakable gift.” Our giving and the un¬ 
speakable gift are vitally related. 

Giving is spoken of as “ that grace also.” Grace 
means favor. Ask a young man to describe his 
best girl, and he will begin to tell you of the roses 
in her cheeks, the sparkling blue eyes, and the hair 
that catches and reflects the light. What is he 



104 The Efficient Young People's Society 


doing? Well, unless the roses in her cheeks were 
bought in a box they are the outward evidence of 
an inward function. So are all the favors or graces 
he would describe. The giving of time, energy, 
or possessions is just the outward evidence of an 
inward life. 

Time and Proportion 

A time element is marked down as a law in phys¬ 
ical life. The heart beats normally so many times a 
minute, the respiration is steadily maintained. The 
digestive function is a regular operation with time 
for storing up the necessary juices, and with time 
requirements for those juices to act upon the food. 
There is a law of nature in the physical universe 
as to tides, sun, and moon. There is also a time 
law for a steward in connection with his function of 
giving money; “ Upon the first day of the week,” 
the Book says. 

We are also to give proportionately, “ As God has 
prospered us.” That is just. The lodge causes all 
to pay alike, while God takes notice of prosperity in 
his requirements. “ To whom much is given, of him 
shall much be required. ,, We are to give freely, 
not under compulsion; love and not fear is to be 
the compelling motive. Our church covenant says 
we are to give cheerfully. 

In addition to our regular and proportionate giv¬ 
ing, we must all take opportunity to make a specific 
gift now and again under the promptings of love 



Stewardship 


105 


and opportunity. We should never dam up the tide 
of giving. Additional gifts are always in order, 
after the regular proportionate obligations have been 
met. They must be met first of all. To do other¬ 
wise is to endanger the established order of things. 

We are to Give to God 

Our giving is not to pay specifically the pastor’s 
salary or to maintain the young people’s society, 
for then we would be paying for something, and it 
would be ours, and if we did not like it we could 
dispense with it or divert our giving from it. We 
give to the support of the Lord’s work in obedience 
to his command, and as his stewards we see that 
all the world has his message. The church, as the 
body of Christ, is recognized as a fit agency to help 
distribute the gospel. Beginning therefore with 
the local parish, the church of Christ sends forth the 
message of salvation till the news has reached the 
ends of the earth. If we believe our Saviour and 
are obedient to our Master, whether we believe 
in missions or not, we must “ go into all the world 
and preach the gospel to every creature.” Many 
cannot do this by word of mouth or personal in¬ 
fluence, but we can all do our share by the use of 
money, time, and energy. 

A Unified Budget 

No young people’s society should try to maintain 
activities unrelated to the church life. The society 



io6 The Efficient Young People's Society 


is the church at work for young people. The church 
should therefore provide for the maintenance of the 
necessary work. In a unified church-expense budget 
there should be inserted an item for the young 
people’s society. The treasurer of the society should 
draw that item in quarterly amounts from the 
church treasurer, and then it should be used to 
maintain all the necessary activities of that depart¬ 
ment of the church as maintained when the society 
raised its money by other methods. Or the society 
might authorize the bills to be paid and pass them 
to the church treasurer with its O. K. on them, up 
to the amount of the appropriation. Free socials 
should have a large place in that expenditure. 

All moneys paid in by attendants upon the work 
of the society should be accurately kept track of by 
the treasurer, and then be paid over regularly to the 
church-expense, or benevolent, treasurer of the 
church. Any missionary work supported directly by 
the young people’s society would then be put into the 
missionary budget of the whole church. Every ac¬ 
tive or associate member of the society should be 
regularly canvassed for a pledge for God’s work 
covering the church-expense fund and the world 
mission work done by the whole church. The sub¬ 
scription then made should cover what was hereto¬ 
fore given through church channels with enough 
more added to cover what was paid in to support 
the work of the society. The unity of the church, 
Christ’s body, is thus emphasized. 



Stezuardship 


107 


A Comparison 

The life that does not give out, as well as receive, 
stagnates and rapidly deteriorates. The steward of 
God’s manifold mercies and blessings who does not 
distribute according to the will of his Lord grows 
less and less joyful, finds no pleasure in worship, 
does less and less to bring God to those who need 
him, and finally cold and lifeless he hangs on to the 
window-ledge of the household of faith. 

Those who give do so with a growing pleasure as 
in one of the great privileges of life. The sympathies 
are enlarged, the horizon of life is widened, and 
life increases in its desire for worship and action. 
Perhaps the one privilege besides her love of God 
possessed by the widow was the opportunity to give 
out of her great poverty. Her act of giving has 
enrolled her amongst the world’s best-known 
stewards of her Master. 

Raising Money by Pay Affairs 

Our giving must be direct. Church-members 
often say they support the church by attending all 
the dinners, suppers, fairs, and pay socials. That 
is not giving at all; it is more like graft. It encour¬ 
ages the idea that you must get value received for 
what you pay out. Thus it is buying, not giving. 
A gift is an expression of the owner’s loving will, 
and is without consideration of value received. 

The church, or any part of it, has no right to go 
into the business of buying and selling. In most 



io8 The Efficient Young People’s Society 


sections of America the church is untaxed because 
of its religious character. It then enters the restau¬ 
rant or mercantile field untaxed, in competition with 
merchants who are taxed for being in those lines of 
work. That is unfair competition. What is unfair 
is wrong. Can a church or any part of it afford to 
go openly into anything of this kind? If the church 
will do such things, at least the taxes should be paid. 
It is claimed that the church engages in selling only 
occasionally. A pedler pays a tax to protect regu¬ 
lar lines of business with which he comes into com¬ 
petition. 

The real harm, however, is to the individual who 
puts the earning of money by the church in place of 
his own direct duty to give to God. The great harm 
comes to the church in the contempt felt by the 
outside world for an organization with such high 
principles, but such belittling practices. 

Let me repeat, therefore, that every member of 
the church should be a steward, administering his 
giving life regularly through a duplex envelope ac¬ 
cording as God has prospered him. Then the church 
will have all the money needed to carry on its world 
enterprise. 

Good Business Methods 

The giving life of the church should command 
the best business acumen of the membership in its 
administration. However, it cannot be conducted 
successfully upon business methods alone. There 



Stewardship 


109 


are great spiritual interests at stake, as we have seen 
from previous paragraphs. 

All moneys used by the society should be handled 
with great care. You are using money contributed 
by many people. The treasurer should keep an 
accurate record of all transactions; regular reports 
should be made monthly to the society, and quarterly 
or annually the books should be carefully audited. 
Such oversight is due the treasurer, to protect his 
good name. We are all liable to make mistakes. Care 
and publicity concerning the use of other people’s 
money is always wise and Christian. In business 
circles you will find such practices in common use. 
The church cannot afford to be outdone by the 
world in matters of honorable method. 

Healthy Spiritual Life 

Our quest is for a life for God and salvation 
first of all. We must make every one feel that 
we want him more than his possessions. If the life 
is really won for God and then proper methods are 
in vogue, every life will and must produce its ade¬ 
quate results. Not to produce them is a sign of 
ill health and danger. The ill health must be re¬ 
moved. Every healthy Christian will be a steward 
giving God’s ownership proper recognition and ad¬ 
ministering his trust as desired by the Master. 

A healthy physical body does its work well. A 
healthy spiritual life will also produce proper re¬ 
sults. 



no The Efficient Young People's Society 


Quiz 

1. What is the purpose of our salvation? 

2. State the relation between a man and his 
possessions. 

3. Why is giving important? 

4. Explain the difference between acknowledg¬ 
ment and recognition. 

5. Tell some things Paul said about the giving 
life. 

6. How and when are we to give? 

7. What results from giving to pay a salary or to 
maintain a department of the church? 

8. How should the work of the society be sup¬ 
ported ? Why ? 

9. Compare the results of a giving life with one 
that withholds. 

10. What business methods are wise? 



IX 


THE HEART OF THE SOCIETY 

By W. H. Geistweit 

The Devotional Meeting 

The devotional meeting is the focusing-point of 
the whole working force of the young people’s so¬ 
ciety. It has one great purpose—to develop spirit¬ 
ual life. It is the young people’s spiritual gymna¬ 
sium. The Sunday-school may be regarded as a 
teaching agency; spiritual development is, of course, 
a part of its function; but its main business is teach¬ 
ing and evangelizing. The young people’s meeting, 
the devotional service, is preeminently a spiritual 
movement, intended mainly to develop spiritual life. 

This feeding, this development of the spiritual 
life, is brought about by prayer, testimony, knowl¬ 
edge of the Bible, worship. If the devotional meet¬ 
ing is weak here, the whole organization will be 
affected, and will be weak in consequence. Every 
committee should have this ideal, this meeting be¬ 
fore them. Social service, “ ministry,” sociables, 
etc., everything should have this meeting in view; 
it is the heart-throb of the society. The devotional 
meeting should not be turned into a workers’ train¬ 
ing-class, nor a department of social service, nor a 

hi 


112 The Efficient Young Peoples Society 


section of the Sunday-school. It may be fairly ad¬ 
mitted that much of the social work of the young 
people’s society has been taken up by the Sunday- 
school; but the great business of the society still 
remains. The purpose and aim should be the de¬ 
velopment of the spiritual life in its devotional 
meetings. This meeting is the department of 
dynamics for the young people of the church. 

I would not advise the use of the old name, “ the 
prayer-meeting.” That name is oftener a hindrance 
than a help. Indeed, I have long ago abandoned 
the name in characterizing the regular midweek 
church meeting. The title “ church prayer-meet¬ 
ing ” is too often associated with dulness. The 
“ young people’s meeting ” is sufficient; it permits 
the variety necessary to make it “go.” It is our 
purpose here to consider this devotional meeting in 
its construction and in its development. 

The Devotional Committee 

The devotional meeting begins in the devotional 
committee. Unless the committee is “ on the job,” 
no one else will be. The devotional committee 
should consider it as a part of its bounden duty 
to be present at every meeting; present with the 
determination and plan to make the meeting a suc¬ 
cess. The committee should keep in close touch 
with the leader. Sometimes the leader is timid, 
inexperienced, hesitant—really frightened. The 
committee should see to it that the leader is sur- 



The Heart of the Society. 


ii3 


rounded by every possible help. It should seek to 
enlist many helpers; indeed, to enlist the whole so¬ 
ciety in the subject for the meeting. A most out¬ 
standing and flaming weakness is the utter listless¬ 
ness with which many young people come to their 
meetings. They do not know the subject; they have 
thought nothing about it; they are not especially 
interested in it. The remedy is not so difficult as 
it seems to be. 

If the devotional committee is in the very center 
of things, seeking to develop interest on every side, 
working toward the end that every member shall 
come to the meeting having previously read the 
Scriptures on the subject, it seems to me that a 
dull meeting is impossible; there can be no dulness 
where there is “ interest.” A large part of the func¬ 
tion of the devotional committee, therefore, is to 
enlist every member in the daily Bible readings, es¬ 
pecially those that relate themselves to the topic to 
be presented in the meeting. 

The Devotional Committee and the Leader 

At the beginning of the “ season,” with all the 
new topics in hand, the committee should carefully 
select the leaders for the coming three months—in 
my judgment three months are better than six. 
Having selected these leaders and topics, arrange 
for a meeting of the committee with all the leaders 
for the quarter. It will be well to have the music 
committee meet with these leaders so that there can 

H 



114 The Efficient Young People's Society 


be unanimity and harmony in the outworking of all 
the plans. 

With the topics and leaders selected, with the de¬ 
votional and music committee on hand, with the pas¬ 
tor, president, and other working officials all to¬ 
gether, the one theme should be, “ The devotional 
meeting, what shall we do with it ? ” Here are some 
leaders who have difficult subjects; here are others 
who may have never led a meeting. A thorough 
discussion should be entered into as to the develop¬ 
ment of each meeting; plans, methods, programs, 
music, etc., all should be thoroughly considered. 

The value of this conference method cannot be 
overestimated. I know what it will do, for I have 
tried it. And where it has been effectually worked 
out, it has made a new devotional meeting. The 
presence of twelve leaders, with these committees, 
and pastor, gives tone and quality to the whole af¬ 
fair, and gives each leader the feeling that the work 
is worth while. So many workers interested, giving 
much time and thought to the devotional meeting— 
the mere fact of it spells success. 

The subject for each meeting should be carefully 
considered. How can it be divided? Who shall do 
the talking? How long shall any one talk? What 
part shall the leader take ? These and other impor¬ 
tant considerations belong to the conference here 
pleaded for. The trouble in the past has been that 
the leader generally works by himself, selects a 
few passages of Scripture, has them given out in the 



The Heart of the Society 115 

meeting, talks about five minutes, “ throws the meet¬ 
ing open,” and too often throws it out of his own 
hands, and things go in a happy-go-lucky way, grad¬ 
ually drifting into a mechanical service that means 
little and accomplishes nothing. The leader for 
each meeting should be given to understand that the 
whole working body of the society is directly in¬ 
terested in the service; that all are ready to “ take 
part,” whatever that may mean, to make the service 
a spiritual success. 

Consider too, the value of one leader for the 
opening services—one leader, say, for a month or 
more. Such a leader should be one of the strongest 
and most experienced in the society, who will sit on 
the platform with the appointed leader, helping and 
encouraging in every way. Such a leader would 
open the meeting, introduce the songs, throw variety 
into the opening part of the service, and help to 
make a good background, or “ atmosphere ” for the 
meeting as it continues in the hands of one perhaps 
less experienced. 

Concerning the Music 

Here we come upon one of the most difficult 
problems in the devotional meeting. Too often 
hymns are selected without any regard to the sub¬ 
ject; or, what is worse, without any developing 
thought in the passage from one hymn to another. 
It is because of this lack of thought and plan that 
some people have been wont to characterize the open- 



n6 The Efficient Young People s Society 


ing services as “ preliminaries.” Any one who looks 
upon the first part of a service in that spirit has 
utterly failed to understand the service, and is almost 
unfitted to get any good out of the meeting. Yet 
leaders and ministers are wholly responsible for 
such a state of affairs. Unless the song service leads 
to something, develops something, and unless that 
something has to do with what follows, the meeting 
is almost shorn of its power. 

So too, the relation of the music to the meeting 
is vital. In the conference suggested above, the 
selection of hymns, special solos, or other special 
selections, should have large consideration. In every 
song service there should be a development of praise, 
experience, prayer, and consecration. Endless va¬ 
riety may be secured by wise leaders. The spe¬ 
cial music should be carefully guarded. Sometimes 
a classical selection, sung because it fits the singer, 
but has not other fitness, completely destroys the 
service, and people do not know just what has hap¬ 
pened to it; so subtle are spiritual movements and 
effects. 

The character of the subject will naturally give 
some direction in the choice of hymns and songs. 
Care should be taken that right selections come be¬ 
tween addresses or testimonies. And then, with a 
view to a good climax, select the right song with 
which to close the meeting, if a song is deemed 
necessary; sometimes a meeting closed silently is 
the only way to accomplish what we are after. 



The Heart of the Society n 7 

Arranging for the Meeting 

No meeting will “ go ” of itself. The success of 
the service will depend upon the interest manifested 
before the meeting by those who have it in charge. 
It is strongly urged that the meeting be a pledged 
service. This is not a new thing, but there is need 
of fresh insistence. Let the devotional committee, 
with the other officers and helpers, secure the 
definite pledges of a large number to attend the 
meeting and to keep coming for a definite period of 
time. Insist also that those who come shall stay to 
the close of the hour; nothing so disturbs the spirit 
of a service as the movement toward the door in the 
closing minutes of the meeting. 

Special invitations should be printed, which should 
be placed in. the hands of visitors or young people 
not connected with the society, with the added per¬ 
sonal word of invitation. Make liberal use of litera¬ 
ture to keep things before the whole body of young 
people. 

The ushering of the meeting is far more important 
than one imagines. The ushers should be alert, at 
their places in time—but never in a corner sing¬ 
ing from the hymn-book, thus often overlooking 
those who should be directed to seats; they should 
not sit down until the meeting is fully under way. 

Finally, it should be pressed home upon all the 
young workers that five minutes spent in prayer 
before the meeting, in another room, will give spirit¬ 
ual elasticity to the whole movement. 



118 The Efficient Young People s Society 


The Order of the Meeting 

The hardest thing to accomplish in the world is 
freshness and variety. Ruts are the bane of life in 
every calling. The “ dull plague of uniformity ” is 
one of the plagues of Christian service. It affects 
our preaching, our meetings, our ways of doing 
things. But the place where this plague works its 
deadliest is the young people’s meeting. That is 
one reason why so many meetings are living at a 
poor dying rate, if they are living at all. What 
can we do to bring freshness and variety into the 
young people’s meeting? To begin with, determine 
that no two meetings shall be alike; that is, that no 
two meetings shall be alike successively. Do not 
begin them alike; do not end them alike. A meeting 
that promises some happy surprises is a meeting 
that will interest people, especially young people. 
Without any hesitation whatever, it may be said 
that dull meetings are directly traceable to lack 
of preparation; it is too often evident at the very 
outset that the leader has not given much thought 
to it; that what he calls the freedom of the Spirit 
is too often the laziness of the man. And when 
this listless order is inflicted upon a group of young 
people the result is yet more disastrous; none but the 
seasoned and faithful come to the meeting. 

Here are some “ variety ” suggestions: 

The stereopticon can occasionally be used in the 
opening song service; sometimes it can be used in 
the presentation of a subject; it is always in order 



The Heart of the Society 


119 


to use it in a missionary meeting; missionary and 
illustrated hymn slides are abundant, and can be 
secured for very little expense. In these days of 
electricity a stereopticon service can be held any¬ 
where; every church should have a lantern. Don’t 
overdo the lantern business; used wisely, it is an 
instrument of power; make it a means and not 
an end. 

For a few weeks, scattered here and there through 
the year, have a “ What we know ” service, prece¬ 
ding the regular theme that may be presented. This 
is what I mean: Let it be understood that on the fol¬ 
lowing Sunday we shall, for fifteen minutes, answer 
the question, “ What do we know about Joseph ? ” 
Directions should previously be given as to the 
Scriptures to be read, urging every one to come 
prepared to tell something they have learned. The 
whole biography of Joseph can be given in a few 
minutes, if the matter is wisely directed by some 
intelligent leader. It can readily be seen that this 
one suggestion is capable of endless expansion. 

Then, announce for another meeting that we shall 
consider the religious or spiritual significance of 
important world events, for fifteen minutes. 

Then, “ News from fields afar.” This might well 
include reports from missionary workers wholly 
aside from the regular missionary meetings. 

Reserve the monthly consecration meeting for 
the general testimony service of the whole so¬ 
ciety. In my judgment this meeting will do more 



120 The Efficient Young People s Society 


good coming once a month than when it comes cease¬ 
lessly every week. The “ taking part ” in every 
service can scarcely be said to keep a young peo¬ 
ple’s meeting alive; the insistence upon it has done 
more to cause a decline in this important meeting 
than any other one thing. 

An Expert Helper 

I should like to suggest a new helper in our young 
people’s meeting. It is assumed, of course, that the 
pastor will keep in close touch with the service. 
But a man who expects to do good work in his pul¬ 
pit will hardly be able to spend the hour preceding 
that important service in a young people’s meeting 
every week. What then ? Let every young people’s 
society select an adviser, or mentor, or censor, who 
shall undertake lovingly to criticize, suggest, and 
direct in these especial matters. Such a person may 
be hard to get, but some one should be willing to 
act in this important capacity. It is a new sug¬ 
gestion I am making here, but I have come to be¬ 
lieve in it most heartily, and would urge the young 
people to try it out. What a helpful evening for the 
officers and committees when such a true and lov¬ 
ing heart undertakes to discuss the affairs of the 
meeting with a view to its betterment! Such a 
helper should keep himself thoroughly informed of 
the work of young people throughout the world in 
the different denominations; he should be able to 
make some practical suggestions in every depart- 



The Heart of the Society 


121 


ment; but his chief business would be to attend the 
devotional meeting, to note its progress, meet with 
the committee having it in charge, and now and then 
with the workers for a conference on betterment, 
giving suggestions growing out of his kindly watch- 
care. His work will be best done when he works 
quietly, unobtrusively, without any public knowl¬ 
edge that he is doing it. The president of the so¬ 
ciety should constantly consult with him. 

Conclusion 

Remember—clearly and emphatically: This young 
people’s devotional meeting is not an end, but a 
means to a yet greater end; and that end is the 
spiritual life of the whole church. There is a 
meeting in every church that needs complete over¬ 
hauling; that calls, indeed, for a revolution if we 
are to save the day for the kingdom. That meeting 
is the great midweek meeting of the church. It is 
called “ great ” here, not because of its present pro¬ 
portions, but because of its importance. Unless the 
young people consent to see that all they do is to be 
regarded as a means toward the building of the 
church as a whole, as a unit, their work will be 
of little permanent value. A young people’s devo¬ 
tional service, organized and conducted on lines 
suggested here, cannot fail to be a successful meet¬ 
ing, and a great contribution to the spiritual life of 
the whole church, which spiritual life should find its 
largest expression, its real culminating glory, in the 



122 The Efficient Young People's Society 


midweek service. Make that the objective, and noth¬ 
ing can stand in the way of a great young people’s 
meeting, and a great church in consequence. We 
can have what we want and need if we feel the de¬ 
mand upon us, if we are determined to realize God’s 
purposes for us all. 

Quiz 

1. Define the relation of the devotional meeting to 
the other activities of the society. 

2. Define some duties of the devotional com¬ 
mittee. 

3. How' can we help in the leading of the meet¬ 
ings? 

4. What may have been the cause of listless meet¬ 
ings? 

5. Outline an opening “ musical ” service. 

6. What methods should precede the meeting ? 

7. Give “ samples ” of various opening services. 

8. What may be the value of an “ expert ” helper? 

9. What should be the objective in the young 
people’s devotional service? 

10. Furnish sample programs of an entire meet¬ 
ing based on the suggestions in this chapter. 



X 


EVANGELISM 

By J. F. Vichert 

Introductory 

1. The command to evangelize. Evangelism de¬ 
rives its warrant from the Great Commission. The 
little group of followers whom our Lord had gath¬ 
ered about him were “ put in trust with the gospel.” 
To them he gave command to carry that gospel into 
all the world. The command has never been with¬ 
drawn. To obey it is to evangelize. Every loyal dis¬ 
ciple should study to render full and glad obedi¬ 
ence. 

2. The task of evangelism. The command re¬ 
veals the nature of the task. “ Make disciples ” is 
the word according to Matthew. To that end the 
gospel is to be preached. Hearing the gospel, how¬ 
ever, does not make a man a disciple. Only when 
he accepts it does it become for him “ the power of 
God unto salvation.” Evangelism therefore must 
not only present its message, but also seek in every 
way to win acceptance for that message. The aim 
must ever be so to relate men to Jesus Christ that 
they trust in him as their Saviour from sin, that they 
set their aspirations toward the ideals which he lifts, 

123 




124 The Efficient Young People s Society 


and that they have enkindled in their hearts the 
hopes which he inspires and supports. That is 
the task of evangelism. 

3. Importance of evangelism for Baptists. Evan¬ 
gelism must always have peculiar interest and 
urgency for Baptists. It is, in fact, the very genius 
of our denomination. Apart from it, we can make 
no effective propaganda, and we cannot perpetuate 
our existence. Regenerate church-membership is 
with us a cardinal tenet. We insist that only indi¬ 
viduals who have been born again through faith in 
the living Christ shall be received into the member¬ 
ship of our churches. We can live and grow, 
therefore, only as we make disciples, and evangel¬ 
ism must hold a central place in our thought and 
activities. 

The Means of Evangelism 

These include: 

1. A message. “ The Son of man is come to, 
seek and to save that which is lost,” is the joyous 
announcement which we are commissioned to make. 
“ All have sinned.” Men everywhere yield to the 
power of sin. They incur the penalty of sin. How 
can they escape and gain deliverance from the power 
of sin, cleansing from its guilt, and salvation from 
its dreadful wages? The message of evangelism is 
that “ God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 



Evangelism 


125 


2. A messenger. The message must be pro¬ 
claimed, and here the human factor enters in. Our 
Lord has chosen to make his followers the bearers 
of the message; and consecrated personality becomes 
the medium through which the divine offer of salva¬ 
tion is conveyed to sinful men. “ Ye shall be my 
witnesses,” was the word spoken by the Master to 
the disciples who were to remain here in the world 
which he was leaving. That indicates his plan for 
all time, and they who know him are charged with 
the task of telling forth the good news of the gospel 
of his grace. 

3. A divine reenforcement. Both message and 
messenger require a reenforcement which is afforded 
by the Holy Spirit. “Ye shall receive power when 
the Holy Ghost is come upon you ” was the promise 
to those who were first called to be witnesses. For 
that enduement they were to wait in Jerusalem, and 
until it had become theirs, they were not to venture 
upon their mission. The Holy Spirit, coming upon 
them and dwelling in them, would clothe them with 
power and make their words quick and living. The 
Spirit energizes the messenger, gives wings to the 
message, and prepares for its reception by working 
in the hearts of men, convincing them of “ sin, of 
righteousness, and of judgment. ,, Without his co¬ 
operation there can be no effective evangelism. 

These three, then, are named as constituting the 
means of evangelism—a message, a messenger, and 
a divine reenforcement in the person of the Holy 



126 The Efficient Young People's Society 


Spirit. Each contributes a part, and the part of 
each is necessary to the carrying out of Christ’s 
program. 

Methods of Evangelism 

1. Preaching. There must be public proclamation 
of the good news of the kingdom. It is the divinely 
appointed order. “ As ye go, preach,” said our 
Lord to those whom he sent forth, and from that 
day until this “ the preaching of the cross ” has 
held an important and prominent place among the 
methods whereby men are won to acceptance of the 
gospel. 

Preaching, however, in its commonly accepted 
meaning, is the task of the few. There are other 
methods of evangelism which every disciple may 
employ, and in which all may share actively. In¬ 
deed these are necessary if preaching is to prove 
effective. 

2. Personal evangelism. By this is meant definite 
effort on the part of one person to win another to 
the Christian life. The winning of Simon Peter 
by Andrew is the classic illustration of this form 
of evangelism. We may try in a variety of ways 
to accomplish what Andrew accomplished, but the 
central and vital thing must be the personal touch. 
The value of that cannot be overestimated, and it 
is singularly effective. The late Mr. Henry Clay 
Trumbull was a persistent personal worker. He once 
said that if he were to make any distinction between 



Evangelism 


12 7 


his public service as writer and speaker, and the 
work done in private with individuals, he would 
give first place to the latter. The use of this method 
has brought great multitudes to Christ. 

3. The witness of the life . Actions speak louder 
than words. “ By whose preaching were you con¬ 
verted ? ” was asked of a man who had recently 
accepted Christ. “ By nobody’s preaching, but by 
my mother’s practising,” was the answer. Charac¬ 
ter is the most potent force in the world, and a life 
in which Christ rules, through which his spirit 
breathes, speaks with noble eloquence. Its wit¬ 
ness is convincing, its appeal well-nigh resistless. 

4. Social evangelism. By this I mean the creation 
of an atmosphere favorable to the evangelistic ap¬ 
peal, through exhibiting in social and community life 
the fruits of the gospel. “ I will that thou affirm 
constantly that they which have believed in God 
might be careful to maintain good works/’ wrote 
Paul to Titus. We may fairly give that a social in¬ 
terpretation. The Christian community is to bring 
to bear upon and make operative in the life in 
which it shares, the gracious influences of the gos¬ 
pel, and organize these into practical forms of help¬ 
fulness and service. As men see that thus their 
community is made a better community in which to 
live, as they witness beneficial results flowing from 
Christian enterprise, as they look upon unselfish, 
Christlike ministry to human need, they become 
more favorably disposed toward Christianity, and 



128 The Efficient Young People’s Society 


are ready to accord sympathetic consideration to its 
message. 

Efficiency in the Use of Means and Methods 

Having the means and the methods of evangelism, 
we must qualify ourselves to make the best possible 
use of them. To that end there is needed: 

1. The evangelistic spirit. This we must seek and 
cultivate. There must be upon our part genuine con¬ 
cern for the souls of men. “No man careth for my 
soul ” is a pathetic lament, and one which in many 
cases voices the truth. It ought not to be permitted 
to be true of any person in the circle of those with 
whom we have to do. There ought to be such lov¬ 
ing solicitude, such evident earnestness, such tactful 
effort and entreaty, that all about us shall know 
that we do care for their souls and are intent upon 
their salvation. We need to catch something of the 
mood of the Master, who yearned over men, who 
wept as he saw them refusing the things which be¬ 
longed to their peace, and who loved them with 
a love that carried him to the cross. 

In fellowship, with him is gained that passion 
for the souls of men which is essential to any ef¬ 
fective work for their salvation. Without it we can 
have no success. In the work of winning souls, 
“ Only those who must have them will have them.” 

2. Knowledge. Acquaintance with those whom 
we would win is needful. The fisherman who 
would fill his creel must study the nature and 



Evangelism 


129 


habits of the fish. It is not otherwise in the work 
of fishing for men, and the better we understand 
those whom we approach, the more effective are we 
likely to be in dealing with them. 

Further, there must be knowledge of the content 
of the evangel as revealed in the Scriptures. Here 
we find many statements with reference to the na¬ 
ture of sin and its consequences, the wickedness and 
alienation of the human heart, the love of God, the 
provision he has made for our salvation, the cost 
to him of that provision, the freeness and complete¬ 
ness of the salvation offered. Here are also tender 
entreaties, loving invitations, gracious assurances, 
solemn warnings. The biblical statements with 
reference to man’s need and Christ’s saving work 
we must have at our command if we are to deal 
wisely and effectively with souls. The word of 
God is the “ sword of the Spirit,” and is quick and 
powerful as no words of our own can ever be. To 
know, we must study, and every society might very 
well give attention from time to time to the study 
of those Scriptures which relate directly to the work 
of evangelism. 

3. Power. The kind of power needed is available 
for all. It flows through three channels that are 
open to all. 

(1) Purity of heart and life. 

My strength is as the strength of ten, 

Because my heart is pure, 


I 



130 The Efficient Young People s Society 


said Sir Galahad. Purity is essential to power. Evil 
cherished in the heart or practised in the life always 
leaves us lame and impotent. There is required a 
cleansing from sin through the power of Christ, and 
a consecration to him which will make us vessels 
“ sanctified, meet for the Master’s use ” in his good 
work. 

(2) Prayer. Prayer is the privilege of all, and is 
a source of power. Some one remarks that while 
everybody prays, few really believe in prayer. 
Those who would gain and exercise power must be¬ 
lieve in prayer. Through it power flows into our 
own lives. By means of it we can bring the power 
of God to bear upon other lives. We may all repeat 
if we will the experience of that ancient wrestler, 
who, as a prince, had power with God and with 
men and prevailed. “All things are possible to him 
that believeth,” said our Lord, and they who pray 
in faith move earth and heaven. 

(3) The Holy Spirit. In discussing the means 
of evangelism, reference was made to the Holy 
Spirit. A word here concerning his office in quali¬ 
fying the worker, will not be repetition. Upon him 
must be our supreme reliance. He must efifect in us 
that purifying which is essential to power. He must 
assist us in prayer if our prayer is to prevail. He 
must direct in all that we undertake. Dwelling in 
us, he deepens in us the spirit of love and devotion 
to Christ. He guides us into truth, and he clothes 
us with invincible might. By him Christian workers 



Evangelism 


131 


are in every way reenforced and strengthened for 
the tasks to which they are summoned. 

Passion for souls, born of fellowship with Christ, 
knowledge of those whom we would win and of 
the content of the evangel, power gained through 
purity, prayer, and the enduement of the Spirit, 
these together help lift us into efficiency in the 
use of the means and the methods of evangelism. 

Efficiency in Action 

Every young people’s society ought to aim at be¬ 
ing a definite and positive evangelistic force. It 
can be such if it will acquire the efficiency which 
has just been discussed, and seek to direct that 
efficiency to practical ends. The paths along which 
that efficiency may go out have already been indi¬ 
cated in the discussion of the methods of evangelism. 
It is fitting, however, that we now give a little fuller 
consideration to things which the young people’s so¬ 
ciety, as such, may undertake in the work of evan¬ 
gelism. 

1. Showing kindness in His name. The young 
people, by reason of their youth, are peculiarly fitted 
for certain forms of gracious ministry in the com¬ 
munity which prepare the way for the gospel mes¬ 
sage. Here are the sick and shut-ins. Here are 
many who are lonely. Here are those in hospitals, 
in homes for the aged, in almshouses, in prisons. 
The cheery presence of youth, their gifts of flowers 
and dainties, their message in song, their spoken 



132 The Efficient Young People s Society 


word, awaken a response in many a sad heart, bring 
brightness into many otherwise cheerless lives, and 
commend to needy souls Him in whose name such 
service is done. Any such ministry greatly assists 
the work of evangelism. 

2. Evangelism within the society. The society 
must be mindful of the opportunity for evangelism 
within itself. The membership will always fall into 
two classes—active and associate. Effort may very 
well be made to increase both of these classes, but 
the active membership should never be forgetful of 
the opportunity afforded by the presence of the asso¬ 
ciate members. Presumably among these there are 
always some who have never definitely accepted 
Christ. Their presence in the society indicates a 
sympathetic attitude toward Christ and the church, 
and the probability is that they can easily be won. 
Certainly there ought to be on the part of the active 
members, such an intensity of desire, such fervency 
in prayer, and such entreaty in speech at times, that 
the very spirit of the society will constitute a power¬ 
ful evangelistic appeal, and render decision for 
Christ easy. 

3. The society in the evangelistic work of the 
church. The young people’s society, as a vital part 
of the church, must share in all the evangelistic 
work of the church. In many of the regular 
services in almost every church, the message from 
the pulpit will be evangelistic in character, and its 
aim will be that of winning men to Christ. From 



Evangelism 


133 


time to time special services will be held, with the 
same object in view. In all such services the young 
people can greatly assist. In fact, they can reen¬ 
force the gospel appeal as those who are older can¬ 
not. They can dispel the idea that religion is only 
for those who are aged or about to die. By their 
presence, activity, and testimony, they can influence 
profoundly other young people. Let the members 
of the society then count it a privilege as well as 
a duty to share in the evangelistic services of the 
church, to attend them, to induce others to attend, 
to show courteous attention to those who come, to 
offer testimony when opportunity is given for that, 
and, above all else, to be constant in prayer for the 
divine blessing upon the message and for the sal¬ 
vation of individuals. Such support, freely and 
heartily given by the young people, will contribute 
not a little to make the services fruitful in conver¬ 
sions. 

4. Personal work. The importance of wise, tact¬ 
ful, loving effort on the part of individuals for 
individuals, cannot be emphasized too strongly. In 
some of our great conventions our young people 
have been asked to pledge themselves to seek to win 
one soul for Christ during the year. Thousands 
have taken such a pledge, but why should not every 
member of every society aspire to be a soul-winner ? 
The touch of consecrated personality is the most 
effective thing we know. That way the Master won 
most of his converts. We cannot do better than 



134 The Efficient Young Peoples Society 


follow his method. To have every member a per¬ 
sonal worker, seeking in all consecration and devo¬ 
tion to lead men to Christ, will above anything else 
that can be named lift the society into efficiency in 
winning souls. 

Conclusion 

There is no more joyous or rewarding work than 
that of evangelism. “ He that winneth souls is 
wise.” “ They that are wise shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament, and they that turn 
many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and 
ever.” In this holy enterprise, our young people 
ought ‘to have a worthy share. Wherever, relying 
upon divine help, they undertake it, they constitute 
a powerful reenforcement, heartening the minis¬ 
ter and strengthening the church. Given a minister 
with the evangelistic spirit and a group of young 
people genuinely interested in soul-winning, and 
almost any church will attain to efficiency in evan¬ 
gelism, and enjoy once more that desirable expe¬ 
rience recorded in the Acts when, “ The Lord 
added to them day by day those that were saved.” 

Quiz 

1. What is the task of evangelism? 

2. Why has evangelism special significance for 
Baptists ? 

3. What assistance does the Holy Spirit render in 
the work of evangelism? 



Evangelism 


135 


4. What methods may be employed in presenting 
the evangelistic message? 

5. What is the relation of personal work to other 
methods ? 

6. How may the evangelistic spirit be acquired? 

7. Indicate sources of power for the evangelistic 
worker. 

8. What social service may young people render 
that will aid the work of evangelism? 

9. What is the duty of active members in refer¬ 
ence to associate members? 

10. How may the society assist directly in the 
evangelistic work of the church? 



XI 


PREPARATION FOR SERVICE 

By Amos R. Wells 

Ideals of Service 

All life and service are dependent upon ideals. 
No builder erects a beautiful edifice but a vision of 
its coming loveliness and utility was in his mind 
before a spade was in the ground or a stone laid 
for the foundation. Secular work would come 
to a standstill without ideals, and how much more 
our religious work which deals so largely with the 
great invisible realities! Whoever is trying to get 
along without the formation and cherishing of 
ideals will not go far into the kingdom of God. 

The first step in forming an ideal for your serv¬ 
ice of the Master is to follow the old Greek motto, 
“ Know thyself.” Evidently the ideal service for a 
Beecher would not be the ideal service for a Henry 
Bergh or a John B. Gough. Many a person sets 
before him the ideal of a Christian poet, but he can 
never reach the ideal because God has not bestowed 
upon him poetic gifts. Lives that reach out after 
ideals that God has placed beyond their reach are 
unsatisfied lives; really they are disobedient lives. 
The Christian that wishes to do Christ’s work will 
! 3 6 


Preparation for Service 


137 


first take a sensible and honest account of stock, 
and will see what tools he has to work with. In 
this stock-taking he will be modest and yet hopeful. 
He will remember that the one talent becomes 
two talents when used for the Master. He will 
study the indication of power that God has placed 
within him, as within every one, and he will dare 
to venture largely along the line of this indication. 

It is well for the Christian worker to make a 
list of his abilities, or beginnings of abilities, such 
as “ singing, social skill, letter-writing, story-telling, 
cheering people, sympathizing with the sick and 
discouraged, and reading aloud.” These are all 
noble gifts. For each there is a corresponding ideal 
of development and use. Find that ideal and attain 
it, and in the process you will be making the most 
of yourself—not of some fictitious self, not of the 
self that vain ambition would persuade you that 
you possess, but of the self that God has given 
you to cultivate and render helpful to his world. 
You will not know yourself completely at first, of 
course. You will always be making beautiful dis¬ 
coveries regarding yourself as you go on in the 
service of our Saviour. This list of your powers 
will be expanding continually, and you will under¬ 
stand that at first it is only tentative. 

After thus you have made a beginning of know¬ 
ing yourself and of making the most of yourself, 
you will in the same way seek to know your oppor¬ 
tunities, in order that you may begin to make the 



138 The Efficient Young People s Society 


most of them. The ideals you may wisely cherish 
will be governed partly by your opportunities for 
developing them and using them. Your surround¬ 
ings are the field in which your ideals are to grow. 
You would not set out an oak tree in a flower-pot 
nor plant corn in a window-box. If your Christian 
service must be given largely to your home (and 
what a kingdom that is!) your ideal should not be 
that of a pulpit orator or a foreign missionary. 

Therefore you will make a second list, noting 
your opportunities for serving Christ as you see 
them now—what the surveyors call a “ preliminary 
reconnaissance ” of your field of action. The list 
may read: “ My home, my neighborhood, my Sun¬ 
day-school class, my young people’s society, the 
church prayer-meeting, the church services on Sun¬ 
day, the church socials, the village life, my relatives 
in other towns, and my friends with whom I corre¬ 
spond.” Every one of these ideals will open out 
into a really surprising field of service. 

Your problem, after you have made out these two 
lists, is a very simple one. It is just to choose one 
of your abilities that is suited to one of your op¬ 
portunities, and set out to learn what is the ideal 
use to make of it, and then to attain that ideal. 
After you have made some progress and got this 
line of effort started, take up another ability, and 
then another, till all your abilities are at work in all 
your opportunities. But take up serenely only one 
thing at a time; apply Goethe’s fine motto, “ With- 



Preparation for Service 


139 


out haste, without rest.” This is the secret of all 
growth—just keep at it, a little at a time. 

Purposes and Plans for Service 

Having in this way set up an ideal for our service 
of Christ, always with the understanding that it is 
to be a growing ideal, we shall need next to make 
sure of our purpose in entering upon this work. 

Here is where we need to be strictly honest with 
ourselves. The aim, the real aim, of an undertaking 
decides at the start its probable success or failure. 
Are we entering this service simply because our 
friends are engaged in it? Are we doing it because 
it is the fashion to do something of the sort? Are 
we vain of our abilities and desirous of showing 
them off? Have we merely a restless seeking for 
activity? Are we spurred only by a sense of duty 
with no accompanying love for Christ and his serv¬ 
ice? These are some of the questions we need to 
ask ourselves in determining our real purpose as we 
take up our Christian work. 

There is only one motive that will stand the 
tests, and that is love for Christ, the love that will 
not rest till it has tried to do his will. Love for 
Christ will bring us to love Christ’s children on the 
earth. Love for Christ will assure us of his pres¬ 
ence and help in our work and will keep us happy 
and strong in it. Love for Christ is the only mo¬ 
tive that will never forsake us, and will conduct us 
to the success that Christ sees best. Sometimes 



140 The Efficient Young Peoples Society 


we may not be sure of our love for the Master. 
In that case we are to do his will anyway, and we 
may be sure that the love will come and will grow 
strong along the pathway of our obedience. But 
let us never be satisfied till we feel that love, for it 
is the power and the reward of all Christian service. 

The method of our work needs consideration as 
well as its motive and ideal. We can cherish the 
loftiest ideal, we can enter upon the task with the 
highest motive, and yet if we go about it in a 
bungling way we shall get very inferior results. We 
know this to be true in our secular work; should 
we not be as eager to discover and use the best 
methods when we are working for our Saviour? 

What these best methods are along many impor¬ 
tant lines of Christian service is shown clearly in 
this book. The best method is often a matter for 
trial and testing and careful selection. What we 
need to bear in mind is that the choice of the 
method which we will use is part of our preparation 
for any service of Christ. We are not to rush 
blindly into the work without looking at the way. 
We are not to take the path that others have trodden 
without satisfying ourselves that it is the best. We 
are to remember that “ time makes ancient good un¬ 
couth,” and that better ways than the old excellent 
ways are part of the royal gift of the ever-new 
days. This thought for the most improved methods 
is not an unspiritual thought. It is part of our 
spiritual preparation for our work. On the con- 



Preparation for Service 


141 


trary, it is the heedless, blundering worker that is 
the unspiritual worker. The more we love Christ 
and the more deeply we are devoted to his serv¬ 
ice, the more care shall we take regarding the tools 
to be used in it, and the plans to be followed. 

Bible Preparation for Service 

In our secular work we do not depend upon our 
own ideas and experiences—or if we do, we make 
a failure of our tasks. The wise worker asks 
himself first of all: “ What have other workers, the 
best workers, accomplished in this field ? ” He goes 
to the text-book and finds out. 

Now the Bible is the text-book of Christian serv¬ 
ice. There are many subordinate books, but this is 
the book from which they all spring. It is our 
text-book of service because it was written by the 
greatest servants of the King, and because it de¬ 
scribes the best ways of serving him. More than 
that, it is our text-book because the King himself 
wrote it through his servants, and himself interprets 
it and enforces it through his ever-present Spirit. 

Plainly, since we have this wonderful text-book, 
it is the height of folly to attempt Christian work 
without it. And yet how many make this very 
mistake! They enter upon their Christian tasks 
without inquiring or even caring how the noblest 
and most successful servants of the King have 
accomplished those tasks and what the King him¬ 
self is ready to tell them about his desires regard- 



142 The Efficient Young People's Society 


ing the work. Suppose some one should give you 
a beautiful automobile. Would you get into the 
driver’s seat and in your ignorance try pulling this 
lever and that, pushing this button and that, and 
so attempt to start and run the car? If you did 
you would run both the car and yourself into the 
ditch. No; before you tried to run it you would 
spend days with a book of directions and with 
some expert chauffeur, learning the machinery and 
how to control and guide it. It is this exactly that 
you are to do in preparation for the journey of 
life, and your book of instructions is the word of 
God. 

The Bible will be of value to you along all the 
lines of thought thus far suggested. As you become 
familiar with its precious pages your ideals will 
grow clearer and nobler, your purposes will become 
purer and stronger, and you will form plans in har¬ 
mony with the divine plan for your life. You will 
read your Bible, keeping these three objects in 
mind, and somewhere in each day’s reading you will 
be sure to find something helpful for some one 
of them, perhaps for all of them. 

As to' methods of Bible reading, the first sugges¬ 
tion to be given always is that you establish a 
regular time and place for it. Around this accus¬ 
tomed time and place holy memories will soon 
cluster. The place, though it is only a definite 
corner of your bedroom, will become a little sanc¬ 
tuary; the time will become a little Sabbath. In 



Preparation for Service 


143 


this place you will gather your Bible apparatus, what¬ 
ever books you own that will throw light upon the 
sacred page. The time will best be early morning, 
though it is well to' have another Bible period just 
before you retire. Begin and end the day with 
God. If you will join yourself to some organiza¬ 
tion interested especially in observing this “ morn¬ 
ing watch,” like the “ Comrades of the Quiet Hour,” 
you will find the association to be an aid in your 
private devotions. “ At least fifteen minutes a 
day ” is the time minimum set by the Comrades of 
the Quiet Hour; and certainly every Christian can 
afford that much time each day, as a rule, for com¬ 
munion with his God. Indeed, he cannot afford to 
give less than this time. 

In reading the Bible as a preparation for service, 
it makes little difference where you begin. One of 
the best ways is to begin at the very beginning and 
read straight through. Every Christian should do 
this at least once, to gain a comprehensive view of 
the book. Having done it once, he will want to do 
it many times. 

In making this reconnaissance of the Bible you 
will, doubtless, be especially attracted by some one 
book or several books. I remember, the first time I 
read the Bible through, how the book of Jeremiah 
shone out for me for the first time. I had had 
no idea before of its beauty and power. Taking 
this one book, or one of these books, you will next 
read it with care, slowly, using a good commen- 



144 The Efficient Young People's Society 


tary to explain any parts of it that you may not 
understand. Do not try to read the more difficult 
books of the Bible without a commentary. Re¬ 
member, they come to you out of a distant land and 
a far distant time, and you cannot expect to put 
yourself into the position of the writer without a 
skilful guide. The various volumes of the Cam¬ 
bridge Bible are usually satisfactory, though it is 
always best to get expert advice, such as your pas¬ 
tor’s, regarding the best book to use as a help 
for any one book of the Bible. And remember that 
half your difficulties will be removed if you use the 
American version of the Bible. 

This one book of the Bible having been read with 
care (you will return to it again and again), you 
will not be at a loss to know what next to take up. 
One book will suggest another, and that still an¬ 
other, till you have made your way through the en¬ 
tire sixty-six. And as you read, mark the passages 
that are most helpful for your work. I find the 
most useful plan is simply to print significant letters 
in the margin, making up my own system. Thus Pr 
will stand for prayer, Pa for patience, Per for per¬ 
severance, Wk for work, and so on. Review these 
passages often. Commit many of them to mem¬ 
ory. Use them in your Christian service. Intro¬ 
duce them to others in the prayer-meeting of your 
society and in the Sunday-school. Meditate upon 
them in the “ quiet hour.” Rightly used these 
marked passages will become the keys with which 



Preparation for Service 


145 


you will open the Bible treasury for yourself and 
others. 

Prayer as a Preparation for Service 

As I said of Bible reading so I must say of prayer, 
that it is the greatest possible aid for all these ob¬ 
jects that I have mentioned. Without prayer the 
Christian will not reach the highest ideals, will not 
form or maintain the most worthy aims, will not 
develop the best methods of work, and will not read 
his Bible with the finest results. We say glibly that 
prayer is talking with God. We can hardly realize 
the full significance of those words and of the 
majestic fact which they involve. Really, prayer is 
the greatest act of which man is capable. It is the 
climax of human life. It is the pathway to peace, 
the highway to power. In all our preparation for 
service, as in the service itself, prayer must have 
the leading part. 

Of course prayer will be the conclusion of our 
“ quiet hours/’ our “ morning watch.” If we have 
read our Bibles, we will stop and think about what 
we have read. It is said that meditation is a lost art. 
It can never become a lost art while true religion 
remains. No one can really read the Bible without 
being profoundly moved by it, and that means think¬ 
ing about it. Let us ask ourselves questions about 
what we have been reading: “ Do I understand it ? 
Do I realize its truths? What lesson does it contain 
for my heart-life? What teaching has it for me in 

K 



146 The Efficient Young People's Society 


my relation to others? What practical bearing has 
it on my work for to-day ? ” By answering these 
questions you will transform your Bible reading 
into a genuine preparation for service, and you will 
lead your soul up to the gate of prayer. 

It is well to have a program of prayer, not that 
we shall always make use of it, by any means, but 
the frequent use of it will keep our prayers well 
balanced, and will prevent our making those selfish 
prayers which are all petitions for our own welfare. 

The first part of prayer, then, is adoration. Seek 
to realize the wonderful Being with whom you are 
speaking. Think of his greatness as the Creator of 
all things, the upholder of all things, as all-powerful, 
as everywhere present, as omniscient. Think of his 
love for you, the care he has lavished upon you, the 
life he lived for you on the earth in the person of 
his Son, and the death he died for you. Address 
him humbly in the best words you can command and 
with supreme reverence. 

Having come thus far, you will instinctively pass 
next to thanksgiving. You will at once think of 
many things for which you are grateful. You will 
begin to tell them over to your Father. One will 
suggest another. You will see that you can spend 
an hour easily in the glad catalogue. You will find 
no end to your mercies, yes, even though you had 
begun to pray out of the midst of a time of great 
grief and with hot tears in your eyes. 

But this overflowing list of blessings will lead you, 



Preparation for Service 


i4 7 


if you are a true Christian, to think of many other 
persons who> are less fortunate than you, and you 
will begin to pray for them. An important part of 
every true prayer is intercession. Pray for your 
friends that are not Christians. Pray for the 
heathen world lying in the shadows. Pray for the 
poor, the sick, the prisoners, the mourners, the 
tempted. 

Then last of all, you may think of yourself and 
pray for your own needs and desires. God will be 
glad to hear of them. Your list will not be so long 
as it might have been before you prayed thus 
far. It will concern itself chiefly with spiritual 
blessings, and you will be quite willing to leave the 
material side of your life in the same kind hands 
that have provided for you hitherto. You will thank 
him again as you close your prayer. You will wish 
you had more time for praise. Then you will wait 
a minute quietly to see if the Holy Spirit has some 
further word for you. And then you will go forth 
into your day, which thus has become in a very real 
sense his day as well. 

Quiz 

1. How are we to choose ideals for our Christian 
service ? 

2. What motives of service are to be rejected? 

3. What are the true motives for service? 

4. How are we to select the best methods of serv¬ 
ing Christ? 



148 The Efficient Young People's Society 


5. Why is Bible reading necessary as a prepara¬ 
tion for service? 

6. What are the best methods to use in Bible read¬ 
ing? 

7. Why is prayer of fundamental importance in 
the Christian life? 

8. What is the best program for the “ morning 
watch ” ? 

9. What are the parts of a model prayer? 

10. What are the results of true prayer? 



XII 


AN ADEQUATE PROGRAM 

By W. E. Chalmers 

No great war is fought without plan. Soldiers’ 
lives are too precious to sacrifice in haphazard 
fashion. Each year in the young people’s society 
records its losses as well as gains. A good general 
aims to keep losses at a minimum to reach out 
aggressively for the largest advance. 

Plans for the Year 

The fall campaign ought to open up according to 
a prearranged scheme. The president has matured 
his plans during the late spring, and threshed them 
over with his executive committee before the sum¬ 
mer breaks up. Every committee chairman is made 
to feel the importance of this work and meeting. It 
will be the new president’s first assertion of leader¬ 
ship. All will be concerned that the new administra¬ 
tion shall begin strongly. 

Listing the Essentials 

As the details of the year’s work are thought over, 
it will be felt necessary to include all the items to 
which a society ought to give itself. Perhaps the 

149 


150 The Efficient Young People’s Society 


first thing to be done is to decide upon a list of 
things absolutely essential. The purpose of this 
book is to suggest to leaders these essentials. This 
is also the purpose lying back of a standard of 
efficiency. From the wide experience of many young 
people’s societies the working features which tend 
to reappear are combined in a single standard state¬ 
ment by a competent authority. 

The Kingdom must Grow 

It would be well to turn back to the Master’s 
definition of the essentials of efficiency. He made 
the objective of our combined endeavor the kingdom 
of God. Moreover, the kingdom of God is at work 
in the world and within us. His favorite parabolic 
presentation of the kingdom is in terms of growing 
life. “ Behold a sower went forth to sow.” “ The 
kingdom of heaven is like unto a mustard seed.” “ I 
am the vine, ye are the branches.” It is not dif¬ 
ficult to see that in his mind the kingdom must 
grow. And as you read his teachings you discover 
that the kingdom must grow in four directions: 
(1) In influence, (2) in numbers, (3) in knowledge, 
and (4) in service. Let us see how these elements 
of growth enter into the program of an efficient 
young people’s society. 

Increase in Influence 

“ The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which 
a woman took and hid in three measures of meal 



An Adequate Program 151 

till it was all leavened.” Such is the pervasive power 
of the kingdom that it will spread irresistibly, affect¬ 
ing men’s thinking, customs, laws, constitutions, art, 
literature, morals, judgment, etc. 

Plainly a Christian organization, formed for the 
spread of Christian influence, must expect that in¬ 
fluence to radiate in many directions. A wider and 
wider circle will include those who have opened 
their hearts, in some degree at least, to the gospel’s 
appeal. The society will plan its work to win the 
friendly interest of all within its reach. It will not 
neglect: 

1. Socials, because socials may be used as a strong 
popular appeal for the presence of young people but 
slightly interested or wholly indifferent. The pro¬ 
gram for the year will plan for at least four big 
social events. These socials will be ingeniously 
worked up, and persistent effort will be made to 
commandeer every young person who may possibly 
be reached. 

2. Juniors. The best and easiest extension of the 
young people’s society is among the young-people- 
to-be. The great armies of Europe have been built 
up by providing for recruiting in the early years. 
Girls and boys appreciate a little attention from 
those just older than themselves. 

3. Associate membership. Many a young man or 
young woman is willing to join a Christian society. 
They are not ready for the full step, but will go 
half-way with us. The membership for which they 



152 The Efficient Young People s Society 


are ready involves some obligations which they take 
upon themselves. We want them to come with us, 
that we may do them good. 

Increase in Numbers 

“ Except ye are born from above ye cannot see 
the kingdom of God.” “ Enter ye by the narrow 
gate, for narrow is the gate and straitened the 
way that leadeth into life, and few are they that 
find it.” Growth by influence is not all. Christ does 
not want men deceived by a vague relationship to his 
kingdom. Hence we must push: 

1. Evangelism. He lays upon us the duty of per¬ 
suading men to accept their Saviour. No year’s 
program is complete unless it includes definite evan¬ 
gelistic service. It is much better to fall in with the 
church plan. If for any reason the church has not 
planned for this work, the young people might well 
have an evangelistic meeting for young people, and, 
in conference with the pastor, might plan their own 
campaign of personal work. 

2. Church-membership . Confession of Christ as 
Saviour ought to be followed immediately by mem¬ 
bership in the church. This membership must be 
something more than nominal. The young people’s 
society ought to help young church-members enter 
into a realization of their relation to the church of 
Christ. Young people must be pushed into the ac¬ 
tivities of the church, especially of the Sunday- 
school as part of the church. 



An Adequate Program 


153 


Increase in Knowledge 

“ I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye 
cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he the 
Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all the 
truth.” 

The Master expected the advance of his kingdom 
through the enlarging intelligence of his disciples. 
Certainly the young people’s society must plan its 
work so as to develop Bible knowledge. Much 
will be made of the— 

1. Meetings. The devotional meeting is an edu¬ 
cational agency. The testimonies of those who have 
given some thought to a topic of great importance 
cannot but help all who hear. It is an atmosphere 
favorable to the best learning. But the finest edu¬ 
cation comes from the effort of each to get the 
Bible lesson for himself. The plan for the year will 
emphasize this work of topic preparation. 

2. Educational courses. Daily Bible reading must 
be constantly pushed. Some time during the year 
there ought to be a general course designed for 
Christian culture for which a class is organized. 
There ought also to be a mission-study class. 

Increase in Service 

“If I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your 
feet, ye ought also to wash one another’s feet/’ 

One of the splendid modern gains of the church 
is the broadening of the idea of service. Time was 
when a man thought he could be religious without 



154 The Efficient Young People s Society 


helping. Also too many in our churches admit the 
obligation of service, but do not practise very much. 
The young people’s society has always understood its 
chief task is training to do. Hence we give atten¬ 
tion to: 

1. Finance. Our annual plan will include in¬ 
struction in Bible principles of saving and giving. 
We will follow up teaching by a well-considered 
scheme of finance, which includes church support 
and missionary giving. 

2. Missions. We will carefully plan for mis¬ 
sionary information and inspiration. The monthly 
meeting devoted to the world-wide kingdom effort 
will study to present mission facts interestingly and 
arousingly. We will also inquire of the need of 
missionary and social effort in our own community. 

3. Our denomination. We belong to a great 
brotherhood of believers that are bound together by 
common convictions of truth, and by great common 
tasks. In order to realize the unity and depth of the 
kingdom, we must become intelligent in faith, and 
stand loyally together under our common burdens. 
Plan to acquaint all the young people with the big 
program of the denomination, and find ways in 
which they can help. 

Quiz 

1. What is the value of plans in young people’s 
work ? 

2. How would you prepare for the fall campaign ? 



An Adequate Program 


155 


What arrangements should be made preparatory to 
the fall campaign? 

3. How must the kingdom grow? 

4. By what agencies may the society’s work in¬ 
crease in influence? 

5. Why should associate membership be encour¬ 
aged? 

6. Why should the society push evangelism? 

7. How can the young people’s society help the 
young church-member to realize his relation to his 
church ? 

8. In what ways can the society develop Bible 
knowledge ? 

9. What would you consider the chief task of the 
young people’s society? 

10. To what, therefore, must it give special at¬ 
tention ? 










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